Wilkinson J R, Berghmans L, Imbert F, Ledésert B, Ochoa A
North East Public Health Observatory, University of Durham Queen's Campus, Wolfson Research Institute, Stockton on Tees TS17 6BH, UK.
Public Health. 2009 Jul;123(7):490-5. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2009.05.007. Epub 2009 Jul 16.
Most comparisons of health in Europe take place at the national level. However, there is increased interest in looking at health data at a sub-national level. This study aimed to establish the availability of health data at a regional level and to develop a methodology for the comparisons of health indicators at a sub-national level. In previous work on indicators at a regional level in the European Union, the authors recommended the development of such indicators. This paper takes into account the expansion of the European Union which took place in 2004.
Observational study using routinely available data.
Similar to previous projects, a network of country correspondents was used and data were collected on a similar range of topics. In addition, a supplementary list of data was collected from one region of each country.
Twenty-three countries out of the 25 member states of the European Union participated in the study. Where available, data were of relatively good quality. Data on mortality were most readily available, but data on important public health topics such as obesity were much more difficult to obtain.
A database and a set of indicators for relevant sub-national areas of countries in the European Union, including new countries, were constructed. Data collection from the new countries was more straightforward due to the requirement for them to adhere to the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) levels. The lack of adherence to NUTS levels in the 'old' countries of the European Union continues to create problems. There remains an urgent need to introduce comprehensive sub-national data collection on important public health topics such as obesity and smoking.
欧洲大多数健康状况比较是在国家层面进行的。然而，人们越来越有兴趣在国家以下层面查看健康数据。本研究旨在确定区域层面健康数据的可得性，并开发一种在国家以下层面比较健康指标的方法。在之前关于欧盟区域层面指标的研究中，作者建议开发此类指标。本文考虑了2004年欧盟的扩张情况。
使用常规可得数据的观察性研究。
与之前的项目类似，利用国家通讯员网络，并收集了一系列类似主题的数据。此外，还从每个国家的一个地区收集了补充数据清单。
欧盟25个成员国中有23个国家参与了该研究。在可得的情况下，数据质量相对较好。死亡率数据最容易获得，但肥胖等重要公共卫生主题的数据则难得多。
构建了一个数据库以及一套针对欧盟国家（包括新成员国）相关国家以下地区的指标。由于新成员国需要遵守统计领土单位命名法（NUTS）级别，从这些国家收集数据更为直接。欧盟“老”成员国不遵守NUTS级别仍在造成问题。迫切需要针对肥胖和吸烟等重要公共卫生主题引入全面的国家以下层面数据收集。
