Houghton F, Gleeson M, Kelleher K
Department of Public Health, Mid-Western Health Board, 31-33 Catherine Street, Limerick, Ireland.
Public Health. 2003 Nov;117(6):417-23. doi: 10.1016/S0033-3506(03)00098-2.
As a result of community concerns over animal and human ill health centred around a rural town in the Republic of Ireland, a series of epidemiological studies were conducted. The absence of adequate health-information systems forced researchers to investigate alternative methods of assessing child health in the 'at-risk' area. This study aimed to examine annual primary/national school attendance data over a 10 year period as a proxy health status measure. Data from six geographical areas were analysed; one of these six areas was designated the 'high-risk' area on the basis of reports of animal ill health. Significantly higher absenteeism rates were noted in the 'high-risk' area in nine of the 10 years examined. Although caution is urged in the interpretation of these results, this study demonstrates that primary/national school absenteeism data can act as a useful, albeit crude, proxy measure of health status.
由于爱尔兰共和国一个乡村小镇周围社区对动物和人类健康问题的关注，开展了一系列流行病学研究。由于缺乏完善的健康信息系统，研究人员不得不探索评估“高危”地区儿童健康状况的替代方法。本研究旨在检查10年间小学/国立学校的年度出勤数据，以此作为健康状况的替代指标。分析了来自六个地理区域的数据；根据动物健康问题报告，这六个区域中的一个被指定为“高危”地区。在所考察的10年中的9年里，“高危”地区的缺勤率明显更高。尽管在解释这些结果时需谨慎，但本研究表明，小学/国立学校的缺勤数据可作为一种有用的、尽管粗糙的健康状况替代指标。
