Priority data needs: sources of national, state, and local-level data and data collection systems.

Healthy People 2000’s Priority Area 22 is focused on the need for surveillance and data systems to measure the health status of the population and to plan, implement, describe, and evaluate public health policies and programs (1). Objective 22.1 specifically addresses the need to develop a set of health status indicators appropriate for all levels of government and establish wide use of the indicators. In order to support the implementation of Objective 22.1, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established Committee 22.1, composed of the members appointed from the key public health associations and organizations. The Committee was charged with developing a minimum set of community health status measures to address Objective 22.1. Its final report (2), released in 1991, contains the Committee’s recommendations in the form of two summary lists: Health Status Indicators (HSIs) (3,4,5) and Priority Data Needs (PDNs). The purpose of this Statistical Note is to provide definitions, State-level data sources, and standardized core questions for PDNs. The details provided in this Note should help State, Tribal, and local health agencies collect and evaluate these data items and, thereby, adopt the measures in the assessment of their community’s health status and program planning, development, and evaluation.