Purpose: To increase the efficiency of presenting county level epidemiologic data to South Carolinians. Background: Epidemiological practice needs to translate data from many sources into information to respond requests in a short period of time. Our approach presents an efficient process of analyzing and presenting data in a standard format. Methods: SC Hospital Discharge, Emergency Room visits, and Mortality data were analyzed with the SAS software. We used Dynamic Data Exchange to transfer SAS output data to Microsoft Excel. These data were analyzed for numbers of events, rates (crude and age-adjusted), and costs (including lengths of hospital stay) for 12 chronic diseases. We developed a reader-friendly Excel table for county disease profile, which automatically inputted data from SAS output data. The entire process from analysis of multiple data sets to completion of 46 county profiles only needs little manual operation. Results: A computer-based demonstration will be presented to illustrate the entire process of having the SAS program automatically yield a standard format of document that describes chronic conditions in the 46 counties of SC. Conclusions: The application of SAS DDE system and functions of Excel software provides a time-efficient means for epidemiologists to meet increasing needs for data from the public. Learning Objective: Participants will be able to describe and apply this efficient method of transferring raw data to a presentable and user-friendly county disease profile.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to describe and apply this efficient method of transferring raw epidemiologic data to a presentable user-friendly county disease profile.
Keywords: Methodology, Chronic Diseases
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.