Innovations in public health surveillance: An overview of novel use of data and analytic methods.

Innovative data sources and methods for public health surveillance (PHS) have evolved rapidly over the past 10 years, suggesting the need for a closer look at the scientific maturity, feasibility, and utility of use in real-world situations. This article provides an overview of recent innovations in PHS, including data from social media, internet search engines, the Internet of Things (IoT), wastewater surveillance, participatory surveillance, artificial intelligence (AI), and nowcasting. Examples identified suggest that novel data sources and analytic methods have the potential to strengthen PHS by improving disease estimates, promoting early warning for disease outbreaks, and generating additional and/or more timely information for public health action. For example, wastewater surveillance has re-emerged as a practical tool for early detection of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other pathogens, and AI is increasingly used to process large amounts of digital data. Challenges to implementing novel methods include lack of scientific maturity, limited examples of implementation in real-world public health settings, privacy and security risks, and health equity implications. Improving data governance, developing clear policies for the use of AI technologies, and public health workforce development are important next steps towards advancing the use of innovation in PHS.

The Association between Risk Factors and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Canada: A Cross-sectional Study Using the 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: The global prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to increase and the disease is projected to be the third leading cause of death by the year 2020. The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence and determine the risk factors for COPD in Canada. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that uses data from a nationally generalizable survey, the Canadian Community Health Survey, 2014. There were 46,924 respondents aged 35 years or older. Uni- and multi-variate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the risk factors associated with COPD. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of COPD in the surveyed population was 5.69%. Results from multivariate logistic regression showed that COPD was significantly higher among individuals who were 65 years or older (odds ratio [OR] =4.43; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.69-5.33), current smokers (OR = 5.13; 95% CI: 4.43-5.95), underweight or obese by body mass index ([OR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.38-2.38] and [OR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.41-1.77], respectively), with a total personal income of <$20,000 (OR = 3.67; 95% CI: 2.95-4.57,), and some postsecondary education (OR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.14-1.76). Immigrants were less likely to have COPD compared to Canadian-born respondents (OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.57-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: COPD is a growing and serious public health issue in Canada. The risk factors identified in this study provide useful targets to health promotion and education initiatives, health-care providers, and public health organizations to decrease the prevalence of COPD.