A
Age-Adjusted Rate: Rates are a way to express how often an event happens in a group of people. Using rates lets us compare differences, between groups, in how much a disease or condition occurs. When a rate is statistically modified to eliminate this age bias, it is called an age-adjusted rate.
American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) (Race): A person descended from any of the original peoples of North or South American (including Central America) who also maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian (Race): A persons descended from any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, of the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, Indian, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Asthma: A disease that affects a person’s breathing and may restrict the ability to get oxygen to the lungs. For people with asthma, the inside of their airways can become irritated and inflamed, and this may result in wheezing and coughing.
At-Risk Group: A group of people with common characteristics that make them more likely to encounter an exposure or develop a specific disease or condition.
B
Basemap: A layer on a map that includes additional geographical information, such as roads or rivers.
Birth Count: Number of live births for a specified amount of time.
Birth Rate: Number of live births per 1,000 people, also known as fertility rate.
Birth Weight: An infant’s weight at or shortly after birth.
Black (Race): A person having ancestry in any of the black racial groups form the African Continent.
Blood Lead Level (BLL): A measurement of the amount of heavy metal lead in the blood, typically measured in micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL).
C
Carbon Monoxide (CO): A colorless, odorless gas formed when fuel is not burned completely. CO is commonly produced by vehicles, generators, and other fuel-burning appliances.
Carcinogen: A substance known to cause cancer.
Census: The count of an entire population, this census usually includes details about residence, age, sex, occupation, ethnic group, or marital status.
Census Tract: Small statistical subdivisions of a county. Census tracts are relatively permanent, but they occasionally are split due to substantial population growth or decline. Data at the census tract level allows us to detect trends within a county that might not be apparent at the county level.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): A branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting public health activities in the United States.
Concentration: The amount of something.
Confidence Interval: A range of values for a variable of interest constructed such that this range has a specified probability of including the true value of the variable. The specified probability is called the confidence level, and the end points of the confidence interval are called the confidence limits.
Contaminant: Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance that has a harmful effect on human health because of its presence in the environment.
Chronic: Happening over a long period of time.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A term given to any of several progressive lung disease. Two common disease are emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
County Population: Census estimate of the number of people living in a particular county.
Crude Rate: The number of cases or events divided by the total number of individuals in the population of interest. Rates are typically expressed as a number per unit of population, for example “per 10,000” or “per 100,000”.
D
Demographic Group: A group of people defined by the characteristics they share. Common demographic groups include age, sex, race, or ethnicity. Other groups may be classified based on medical, behavioral, and environmental risk factors.
E
Emergency Department Visits: Counts of people that have been admitted to emergency departments, also known as emergency room visits.
Environment: The environment includes all that is external to an individual. The air we breathe, the water we drink and use, the land and built structures that surround us.
Epidemiology: The study of the distribution and determinants of health problems. In other words, it is the study of the spread or pattern of sickness in a group of people.
Ethnicity: Belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition, for example Hispanic.
Exposure: Contact with a substance by breathing it, eating or drinking it, or having it absorb through the skin. Acute exposures are over a short amount of time. Chronic exposures are over a long amount of time.
Epidemiological Investigations: These are primarily concerned with the statistical relationships between disease agents, both infectious and non-infectious and diseases.
F
FIPS Codes: Federal Information Processing Standard Code. 5-digit code that is used to uniquely identify a United States county. The first two digits identify the state and the last three digits identify the county
Food Insecurity: The lack of consistent access to enough food to live a healthy life.
G
Geocode: The process of identifying the longitude and latitude coordinates of a location. This process is used to show data and information on maps.
Gestation: The period between conception and birth, usually about 280 days in humans.
Groundwater: Water found beneath the earth’s surface that fills pores between materials, such as sand, soil, or gravel.
H
Hazard: Any situations or events that pose a threat to human health.
Health: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.
Heart Attack: A heart attack is a brief and severe health event in which the heart doesn’t get enough oxygen. This decrease in oxygen is caused by blocked blood flow to the heart muscle. A heart attack is also called a myocardial infarction (MI).
Heat-Related Illness: Exposure to abnormal or prolonged amounts of heat and humidity without relief or adequate fluid intake.
High Risk Group: A group of people who are more likely than other groups to experience a specific exposure or develop a certain illness.
Hispanic (Ethnicity): A persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race, also known as Latino, Latina, or Latinx
Hospitalizations: Counts of people who have been admitted to hospitals.
Health Data: Health data provide information about the occurrence of certain diseases and health conditions.
Health Effect or Health Outcome: The disease or health problem itself, such as asthma attacks or birth defects.
I
Incidence: The number of new cases of a disease that develop in a defined population over a specified duration of time.
Incidence Rate: The numerator is the number of new cases of a given disease occurring during the time period. The denominator is the defined population at risk for the disease. Rates are typically expressed as a number per unit of population, for example, the number per 100,000 persons.
Indicator: Numbers or data that are used to describe and summarize a broader issue.
Infant: A child from birth to one year old.
Infant Mortality Rate: Number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births during the year.
Infant Mortality: The death of an infant before their first birthday.
J
K
L
Lead: A naturally occurring metal found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. Lead can be found in all parts of our environment. Lead can also come from human activities including burning fossil fuels, mining, and manufacturing.
Legend: The reference area on a map that lists and explains the colors, symbols, line patterns, shadings, and annotation used on the map.
Live Birth: a fetus that is alive after leaving the body of its mother.
Low Birthweight: Used to describe babies who are born weighing less than 5lbs, 8ozs (2500 g).
M
Morbidity: Illness or sickness.
Myocardial Infarction: Medical term for heart attack.
N
Neonatal: The neonatal period starts and ends at 28 full days after birth.
Numerator: The top number in a fraction or ratio
O
Ozone (O3): A gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is created by a chemical reaction between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Gound level ozone is in smog and can be unhealthy.
P
Percentile: A way to group data points on a similar scale. Percentiles give information about where data points sit compared to others.
Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM 2.5): Fine inhalable particles emitted into the air or formed when gases and particles interact with one another that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. PM 2.5 particles are dangerous because particles of this size can bypass the nose and throat to penetrate the lungs and potentially enter the circulatory system.
Pollutant: A substance introduced into the environment that negatively affects human health.
Population: The total number of people in a certain geographic area or in a specific group.
Prevalence: The percentage of cases of an illness in a population at a given time.
Prevention: Stopping a risky behavior or health problem before it occurs.
Probability: The chance that a given event will occur, expressed as a percentage.
Q
Quantiles: The division of data points into intervals or categories. Percentiles are a specific form of quantile where the division of points is equal to 100. Any range of divisions can be used. For example, if there are five equal categories then you have quintiles.
Quintiles: Dividing a given set of data points into five equal categories. When quintiles are used, 20% of the data points fall into each category.
R
Race: Groupings of people based on shared ancestry and anthropological concepts. Race groupings are not biological designations but were instead developed for the collection of standardized data. These groupings are used by state and federal agencies for record keeping, collection, and presentation of data including data from federal surveys, census data, and data necessary to meet legal requirements.
Rate: An expression of the frequency with which an event occurs in a defined population.
Ratio: The relationship, as a quantity, of one part to the whole.
Random Sample: A specific kind of sample taken from a larger population where everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected. Random samples have statistical properties that allow them to make better estimates of the whole population than samples selected in other ways.
Research: A systematic investigation, including the design, implementation, testing, and evaluation to contribute to the scientific literature.
Risk: The likelihood or possibility of an outcome such as injury, disease, or death. For example, a risk level of 1 in 1,000,000 indicates that one person out of one million people will experience the outcome.
S
Surveillance: A dynamic process in which data on health and disease in a population are collected, analyzed, and reported.
U
T
Tracking: The systematic ongoing collection, collation, and analysis of data and the timely dissemination of information to those who need to know so that action can be taken.
V
Vector-Bourne: A disease carried by an insect, rodent, or other pest such as a mosquito, flea, or tick.
W
White (Race): A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program: A program to promote and maintain the health and well-being of nutritionally at-risk pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children. WIC providers supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition, and breastfeeding information, and referral to other health and nutrition services.
Z
Zip Codes: A 5-digit code that identifies a specific geographic area for mail delivery. ZIP Codes can represent an area within a state, an area that crosses state boundaries, or a single building or company that has very high mail volume.
X
Y