Skip to main content

Displaying results 1 - 8 of 12
  • Models for Forecasting Asthma Exacerbations in Urban Environments

    Content Type: Use Case

    Use case for the Analytic Solutions for Real-Time Biosurveillance: Models for Forecasting Asthma Exacerbations in Urban Environments consultancy held March 30-31, 2016 at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). Problem… read more
    … pollen.  Available data sources are emergency department visit records, weather data, air quality data, and pollen … pollen. Available data sources are emergency department visit records, weather data, air quality data, and pollen … pollen.  Available data sources are emergency department visit records, weather data, air quality data, and pollen …
  • Do Women Really Complain More than Men? Looking at Gastrointestinal Chief Complaints in Boston

    Content Type: Abstract

    The purpose of syndromic surveillance is the early identification of disease outbreaks. Classification of chief complaints into syndromes and the type of statistics used for aberration detection can affect outbreak detection sensitivity and… read more
    … pain because women more commonly report neck, jaw, and back pain.   Objective We evaluated the sensitivity and … pain because women more commonly report neck, jaw, and back pain. [1] METHODS We randomly selected 50,000 visits … pain because women more commonly report neck, jaw, and back pain.   Objective We evaluated the sensitivity and …
  • Using the Emergency Medical Text Processor to Standardize Chief Complaints in Boston's Syndromic Surveillance System

    Content Type: Abstract

    Abbreviation, misspellings, and site specific terminology may misclassify chief complaints syndromes. The Emergency Medical Text Processor (EMT-P) is system that cleans emergency department chief complaints and returns standard terms.… read more
    … the Emergency Medical Text Processor to Standardize Chief Com- plaints in Boston’s Syndromic Surveillance System … The string fields in the 2007 UMLS data are 65k bytes com- pared to 255 (text vs tinytext) in the older version. …
  • Making the Best Use of Textual ED Data for Syndromic Surveillance

    Content Type: Webinar

    In this webinar Dr. Travers will review two tools developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which aid in processing textual CC’s and triage notes in support of syndromic surveillance. Textual data from emergency departments… read more
    … Chief Complaints •Challenges •Tool developed at UNC A Visit to the ED Chief Complaints- Influenza Chief Complaint: Primary reason for visit Cough Congestion Sob Prod cough Congest Short of brth …
  • Analysis of Syndrome Definitions for Gastrointestinal Illness with ICD9 Codes for Gastroenteritis during the 2006-07 Norovirus Season in Boston

    Content Type: Abstract

    We report on a retrospective analysis of gastrointestinal syndrome definitions based on chief complaints and ICD9 diagnosis for gastroenteritis during the 2006-07 season of increased norovirus activity.
    … system receives daily, de- identified patient-visit data from 10 hospital emer- gency departments (EDs) in the city of Boston. For each patient-visit, data collected includes date of visit, chief complaint, gender, zipcode of residence, age, …
  • Syndromic Surveillance in Boston: Validating the Detection of Small Events and Integrating Response from a Local Health Department

    Content Type: Abstract

    The interpretation of aberrations detected by syndromic surveillance is critical for success, but poses challenges for local health departments who must conduct appropriate follow-up and confirm outbreaks. This paper describes the response of the… read more
    … complaint and demographic data are received for each visit; chief complaints are then grouped into eight syndrome … surveillance by contacting the EDs and obtaining ED visit charts. Patient or parent interviews were conducted …
  • Technical Challenges from the Public Health Practice Community to Statisticians and Analysts

    Content Type: Webinar

    On May 28th, 2009, the ISDS Research and Public Health Practice Committees hosted a joint panel with the goal of bringing current challenges faced by public health practitioners to the attention of the research community at large. Members of both… read more
    … –  Poison Control Calls –  Health Centers – Urgent Care Visit Volume –  Sentinel sites (as needed) Notifiable … –  Poison Control Calls –  Health Centers – Urgent Care Visit Volume –  Sentinel sites (as needed) … Reason'for'Visit’'or'‘Respiratory'+'Measured'Temp'>'99.9˚F.’'' …
  • Asthma patterns in Boston emergency department visits for children age five and under

    Content Type: Abstract

    The burden of asthma on the youngest children in Boston is largely characterized through hospitalizations and self-report surveys. Hospitalization rates are highest in Black and Hispanic populations under age five. A study of… read more
    … as likely to present to an ED for an asthma syndrome visit compared with White children (odds ratio (OR)!1.84 … than White children to present at an ED for an asthma visit. Males accounted for 64% of all asthma syndrome visits …