Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Apr;1(2):A05.
Epub 2004 Mar 15.

Policy and environmental indicators for heart disease and stroke prevention: data sources in two states

Delores M Pluto  1 , Martha M Phillips, Dyann Matson-Koffman, Dennis M Shepard, James M Raczynski, J Nell Brownstein
Affiliations

Policy and environmental indicators for heart disease and stroke prevention: data sources in two states

Delores M Pluto et al. Prev Chronic Dis. 2004 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Investigators in South Carolina and Alabama assessed the availability of data for measuring 31 policy and environmental indicators for heart disease and stroke prevention. The indicators were intended to determine policy and environmental support for adopting heart disease and stroke prevention guidelines and selected risk factors in 4 settings: community, school, work site, and health care.

Methods: Research teams used literature searches and key informant interviews to explore the availability of data sources for each indicator. Investigators documented the following 5 qualities for each data source identified: 1) the degree to which the data fit the indicator; 2) the frequency and regularity with which data were collected; 3) the consistency of data collected across time; 4) the costs (time, money, personnel) associated with data collection or access; and 5) the accessibility of data.

Results: Among the 31 indicators, 11 (35%) have readily available data sources and 4 (13%) have sources that could provide partial measurement. Data sources are available for most indicators in the school setting and for tobacco control policies in all settings.

Conclusion: Data sources for measuring policy and environmental indicators for heart disease and stroke prevention are limited in availability. Effort and resources are required to develop and implement mechanisms for collecting state and local data on policy and environmental indicators in different settings. The level of work needed to expand data sources is comparable to the extensive work already completed in the school setting and for tobacco control.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Cheadle A, Wagner E, Koepsell T, Kristal A, Patrick D. Environmental indicators: a tool for evaluating community-based health-promotion programs. Am J Prev Med. 1992 Nov-Dec;8(6):345–350. - PubMed
    1. Glanz K, Lankenau B, Foerster S, Temple S, Mullis R, Schmid T. Environmental and policy approaches to cardiovascular disease prevention through nutrition: opportunities for state and local action. Health Educ Q. 1995 Nov;22(4):512–527. - PubMed
    1. Cheadle A, Sterling TD, Schmid TL, Fawcett SB. Promising community-level indicators for evaluating cardiovascular health-promotion programs. Health Educ Res. 2000 Feb;15(1):109–116. - PubMed
    1. Fishman JA, Allison H, Knowles SB, Fishburn BA, Woollery TA, Marx WT, et al. State laws on tobacco control — United States, 1998. MMWR Surveill Summ. 1999 Jun 25;48(3):21–40. - PubMed
    1. State Tobacco Activities Tracking & Evaluation (STATE) System [Internet] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Promotion and Health Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health; Atlanta (GA): 2002. [cited 2004 January 29]. Available from: URL: http://www2.cdc.gov/nccdphp/osh/state .

Publication types

MeSH terms