[Study on the timeliness of detection and reporting on public health emergency events in China].
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the timeliness of detection and reporting on public health emergency events, and to explore the effective strategies for improving the relative capacity on those issues.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective survey on 3275 emergency events reported through Public Health Emergency Events Surveillance System from 2005 to the first half of 2006. Developed by county Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a uniformed self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data, which would include information on the detection, reporting of the events.


RESULTS
For communicable diseases events, the median of time interval between the occurrence of first case and the detection of event was 6 days (P25 = 2, P75 = 13). For food poisoning events and clusters of disease with unknown origin, the medians were 3 hours (P25, P75 = 16) and 1 days (P25 = 0, P75 = 5). 71.54% of the events were reported by the discoverers within 2 hours after the detection.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, the ranges of time intervals between the occurrence, detection or reporting of the events were different, according to the categories of events. The timeliness of detection and reporting of events could have been improved dramatically if the definition of events, according to their characteristics, had been more reasonable and accessible, as well as the improvement of training program for healthcare staff and teachers.
Li
Ke-Li
KL
'Tai' an Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Tai' an 271000, China.
Feng
Zi-Jian
ZJ
Ni
Da-Xin
DX
D002681:China; D018563:Disease Notification; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies