Twelve Years of County level data on all the MCAH required birth, death and hospital discharge related MCAH Indicators on the FHOP website!!

We have been getting feedback that many of the MCAH program staff and epidemiologists are not aware that most of the data which is required by the state MCAH Branch for Title V assessments and reports is already available on the FHOP website. The data for the periinatal indicators and those related to mortality and hospital discharge are contained in county specific files that can be downloaded. The data are displayed in a set of EXCEL spreadsheets. For each indicator the set includes a page for: county numerators and denominators; state numerators and denominators; indicator definitions; data quality (ie missing or unlikely values) for that county; a table of rates for the county and state with confidence intervals for each of the 12 years, and a trend graph that compares trend lines with a table showing statistical tests for significance of the various trend lines. In addition, each county file contains a separate set of spreadsheets for each indicator for the geographic region that includes that county with corresponding tables and graphs so that the county can compare itself to the region as a whole.

To access these databooks you MUST have a password. You can access the password request form here or by contacing FHOP. If you have a password, go to the web site at www.ucsf.edu/fhop and click CA MCAH Resources. Then click the first link on the page entitled "California County Pages and MCAH Data Spreadsheets" This will take you to a list of counties. Click that link to access your county page. The password protected section contains all the spreadsheets.

Please let us know if you have any problems either with accessing the data or with interpreting it by calling for technical assistance.

At the end of the one-day program, the participant should be able to: Articulate the use of hospital discharge data for assessment of childhood morbidity; Install EpiHOSP 2.0 software; Import county population and hospitalization data files; Run reports, and graphs; Articulate confidentiality issues when using the data; Use EpiHOSP 2.0 to generate tables and graphs for preventable hospitalization in children in a sample data set. Don't miss out! One more day for Early Bird Registration!

The Key Findings section of California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) reports for all school districts in California which administered the CHKS in the Fall 2004 or later can be accessed through this link to WestEd's online Reports Search Engine. The CHKS is a comprehensive youth self-report data collection system that provides essential and reliable health risk assessment and resilience information. Topics covered by the survey include use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, violence and safety, victimization and harassment, weapons possession and use, physical health, eating habits, exercise, mental health and suicide, sexual behavior and HIV risk. School Districts that receive Title IV or TUPE funding must administer the CHKS once every two years to students in grades 5,7,9 and 11. Districts choose when to survey, and whether to survey more often than the minimum requirement. For reports from previous years or more detailed Technical Reports it is usually necessary to contact the specific school district to obtain permission to use the data. You can contact WestEd at this link Contact us and they can provide you with district contact information and help to facilitate this process.