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
. 2024 Feb 13;19(2):e0278434.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278434. eCollection 2024.

Frameworks for measuring population health: A scoping review

Sze Ling Chan  1   2 , Clement Zhong Hao Ho  3 , Nang Ei Ei Khaing  4 , Ezra Ho  4 , Candelyn Pong  1   2 , Jia Sheng Guan  5 , Calida Chua  6 , Zongbin Li  7 , Trudi Lim  8 , Sean Shao Wei Lam  1   2 , Lian Leng Low  2   3   9   10   11 , Choon How How  11   12
Affiliations

Frameworks for measuring population health: A scoping review

Sze Ling Chan et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Many regions in the world are using the population health approach and require a means to measure the health of their population of interest. Population health frameworks provide a theoretical grounding for conceptualization of population health and therefore a logical basis for selection of indicators. The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview and summary of the characteristics of existing population health frameworks that have been used to conceptualize the measurement of population health.

Methods: We used the Population, Concept and Context (PCC) framework to define eligibility criteria of frameworks. We were interested in frameworks applicable for general populations, that contained components of measurement of health with or without its antecedents and applied at the population level or used a population health approach. Eligible reports of eligible frameworks should include at least domains and subdomains, purpose, or indicators. We searched 5 databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science, NYAM Grey Literature Report, and OpenGrey), governmental and organizational sites on Google and websites of selected organizations using keywords from the PCC framework. Characteristics of the frameworks were summarized descriptively and narratively.

Results: Fifty-seven frameworks were included. The majority originated from the US (46%), Europe (23%) and Canada (19%). Apart from 1 framework developed for rural populations and 2 for indigenous populations, the rest were for general urban populations. The numbers of domains, subdomains and indicators were highly variable. Health status and social determinants of health were the most common domains across all frameworks. Different frameworks had different priorities and therefore focus on different domains.

Conclusion: Key domains common across frameworks other than health status were social determinants of health, health behaviours and healthcare system performance. The results in this review serve as a useful resource for governments and healthcare organizations for informing their population health measurement efforts.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA diagram.
The PRISMA diagram shows the numbers of reports retrieved from various sources and flow through the stages of the scoping review. A total of 57 reports were included in this review. The diagram was generated using an open source R shiny app [10].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kindig DA, Stoddart G. What is population health? Am J Public Health. 2003. Mar 1;93(3):380–3. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.3.380 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arah OA. On the relationship between individual and population health. Med Health Care Philos. 2009;12(3):235. doi: 10.1007/s11019-008-9173-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Valles SA. Philosophy of Population Health. Gronfeldt R, editor. New York: Routledge; 2018.
    1. McDowell I, Spasoff RA, Kristjansson B. On the classification of population health measurements. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(3):388–93. doi: 10.2105/ajph.94.3.388 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ashraf K, Ng CJ, Teo CH, Goh KL. Population indices measuring health outcomes: A scoping review. J Glob Health. 2019;9(1). doi: 10.7189/jogh.09.010405 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types