Using a population-based health information system to study child health.
OBJECTIVE
This paper describes the population-based analyses of measures of child health status used throughout this supplement.


METHODS
The articles in this supplement examine health-related data for children 0 to 19 years. Most analyses cover the period from April 1, 1994 to March 31, 1999. Administrative and survey data were used to assess child health and well-being. For regional comparisons, data were broken down by subregions of Manitoba, called Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), and neighbourhoods of Winnipeg, called Winnipeg Community Areas (Winnipeg CAs). The premature mortality rate (PMR) was used as a proxy of the overall health of the population. All graphs comparing rates among RHAs and Winnipeg CAs rank these subregions in the same order, from lowest to highest PMR. Income was operationalized by dividing the province's population into urban and rural quintiles based upon household income. Other aspects of methodology are discussed.


RESULTS
Results are presented in the articles that follow this one.


CONCLUSIONS
The relationships between key child health indicators and geographic and socioeconomic factors for Manitoba children are discussed in the articles following this one.
Brownell
Marni
M
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. Marni_Brownell@cpe.umanitoba.ca
Mayer
Teresa
T
Martens
Patricia J
PJ
Kozyrskyj
Anita
A
Fergusson
Patricia
P
Bodnarchuk
Jennifer
J
Derksen
Shelley
S
Friesen
David
D
Walld
Randy
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D019352:Censuses; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba / Q000453:epidemiology; D011156:Population Density; D040442:Public Health Informatics; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population; D014798:Vital Statistics