Factors affecting health data
availability in the European Region
Does population size matter?
N. Azzopardi-Muscat1,2,3, S.G. Thyssen2, D.
Stoner3, N.Calleja3
1. Islands and Small States Institute , University of Malta, Malta
2. Department of International Health, CAPHRI School of Public Health and
Primary Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht
University, The Netherlands
3. Directorate for Health Information and Research, Ministry for Energy and
Health, Malta
The importance of timely, publicly
available, comparative health data
• Health system assessment
• Progress in implementing objectives of Health
2020
• Effects of policies, austerity, crises
Objective
To explore potential predictors influencing data
availability in the European Health for All
Database
Methods
• Examination of HFA-DB for the years 2010,
2011 and 2012 for each country
• Each indicator was given a binary score
(1=available, 0=unavailable)
• Possible score for each country and indicator
ranged from 0-3
Indicators
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Demographic and Socio-economic indicators
Mortality-based indicators
Morbidity, Disability and Hospital discharges
Lifestyles
Environment
Healthcare Resources
Healthcare Utilization and Expenditure
Maternal and Child Health
Multiple Regression Analysis
(ANCOVA) with the following predictor
variables was performed
• Population size (small less than 3 million,
middle >3 million <30 million, large >30
million)
• GDP (continuous)
• EU membership status (Yes / No)
Results (1)
From a total of 613 indicators, 504 indicators
were included for further analysis as no
difference in data availability between
countries resulted for 109 indicators with the
vast majority of scores for these indicators
being all “3” or “0”
Results (2)
EU
membership
• Significant determinant of data
availability in 317 indicators (62.9%)
GDP
• Significant determinant of data
availability in 69 (13.7%) indicators
Population Size
• Significant determinant of data
availability in 27 indicators (5.4%)
Effect of GDP
Conclusions
• Important differences in data availability exist
between European countries
• EU legal obligations and GDP appear to be
important in influencing data availability
• Population size does not appear to determine
data availability with the exception of rare
diseases or events
Inverse data needs phenomenon?
• Countries with lower GDPs, typically lower
health status and less developed health care
systems have weaker health information
systems where the necessity for timely,
accurate health information is paradoxically
more important
Role of supra national organisations
• The binding nature of EU legislation ‘forces’
development in health information systems
• How can WHO further assist non-EU countries
to enhance data availability?
• Projects, funding and capacity building
• Peer support between countries?
Thank you for your attention!
@natasha_azzmus