ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2021
Cross-national comparisons of health indicators require standardized definitions and common data sources.
Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Challenges and Limitations in Distributional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Defining Reference Intervals for Complete Blood Count and Micronutrient Parameters in Urban Bangladeshi Population.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- EuroQol data for assessment of population health needs and instrument evaluation (EQ-DAPHNIE): a study for enhancing population health assessment.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Article
- Promoting data-driven decision-making in Jordan: strengthening national health information system and achieving consensus on core set of health system indicators.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Quality-of-care indicators for oncology management: an analysis of Asia-Pacific healthcare and oncology indicators.ESMO open · 2025Review
- General medical comorbidities in psychotic disorders in the Finnish SUPER study.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Acute care pathway assessed through performance indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic in OECD countries (2020-2021): a scoping review.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Article
- A multisource approach to health care use: concordance between register and self-reported physician visits in the foreign-born population in Finland.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Article
- Are Measures of Health Status for the Total Population Good Proxies for the Health of the Older Population in International Comparison Studies?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Changes in the quality of cancer care as assessed through performance indicators during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealth indicators are used to monitor the health status and determinants of health of the population and population sub-groups, identify existing or emerging health problems which would require prevention and health promotion activities, help to target health care resources in the most adequate way as well as for evaluation of the success of public health actions both at the national and international level. The quality and validity of the health indicator depends both on available data and used indicator definition. In this study we will evaluate existing knowledge about comparability of different data sources for definition of health indicators, compare how selected health indicators presented in different international databases possibly differ, and finally, present the results from a case study from Finland on comparability of health indicators derived from different data sources at national level.
methodsFor comparisons, four health indicators were selected that were commonly available in international databases and available for the Finnish case study. These were prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and asthma in the adult populations. Our evaluation has three parts: 1) a scoping review of the latest literature, 2) comparison of the prevalences presented in different international databases, and 3) a case study using data from Finland.
resultsLiterature shows that comparability of estimated outcomes for health indicators using different data sources such as self-reported questionnaire data from surveys, measured data from surveys or data from administrative health registers, varies between indicators. Also, the case study from Finland showed that diseases which require regular health care visits such as diabetes, comparability is high while for health outcomes which can remain asymptomatic for a long time such as hypertension, comparability is lower. In different international health related databases, country specific results differ due to variations in the used data sources but also due to differences in indicator definitions.
conclusionsReliable comparison of the health indicators over time and between regions within a country or across the countries requires common indicator definitions, similar data sources and standardized data collection methods.
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