Question

Disease surveillance systems are evaluated to determine their quality and identify characteristics needing improvement. List two of the surveillance system attributes that CDC recommends evaluating (there are 9 to choose from) and define them (minimum 2 sentences; one sentence each).

Attribute:

Answer 1

The attributes of a surveillance system affect the ability of the system to meet its objectives and the usefulness of the resulting information.

There are 9 servilliance attributes ;;

•Simplicity ;;; refers to the system’s structure and ease of operation.
• Flexibility ;;;is the ability of the system to adapt to changing information needs and operating
conditions with minimal additional cost.
• Data quality;;;;; is the completeness and validity of the data collected through the system.
• Acceptability;;;;; is the willingness of persons and organizations to participate in the system, including those who operate the system, report cases of the disease, or use the data.
• Sensitivity;;;; is the proportion of cases of a disease detected by a surveillance system and the ability of the system to monitor changes in the number of cases over time, such as outbreaks.
• Predictive value positive;;; is the proportion of cases reported through the system that are
accurately diagnosed instances of the disease under surveillance.
• Representativeness;;;;;; is the extent to which the system accurately describes the occurrence of the disease over time and its distribution in the population by place and person.
• Timeliness ;;;;;reflects the delay between steps in a surveillance system and availability of information for control of the disease under surveillance when needed.

•Stability ;;;; is the ability of a surveillance system to collect, manage, and provide data without failure and to be operational when needed.