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ISDS 2018 Conference Abstracts

Public Health Impact of Syndromic Surveillance 
Data—A Literature Survey
Stefanie P. Albert* and Rosa Ergas
Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

Objective
To assess evidence for public health impact of syndromic 

surveillance.

Introduction
Systematic syndromic surveillance is undergoing a transition. 

Building on traditional roots in bioterrorism and situational awareness, 
proponents are demonstrating the timeliness and informative power 
of syndromic surveillance data to supplement other surveillance data.

Methods
We used PubMed and Google Scholar to identify articles published 

since 2007 using key words of interest (e.g., syndromic surveillance 
in combinations with emergency, evaluation, quality assurance, 
alerting). The following guiding questions were used to abstract 
impact measures of syndromic surveillance: 1) what was the public 
health impact; what decisions or actions occurred because of use of 
syndromic surveillance data?, 2) were there specific interventions or 
performance measures for this impact?, and 3) how, and by whom, 
was this information used?

Results
Thirty-five papers were included. Almost all articles (n=33) 

remarked on the ability of syndromic surveillance to improve public 
health because of timeliness and/or accuracy of data. Thirty-four 
articles mentioned that syndromic surveillance data was used or could 
be useful. However, evidence of health impact directly attributable to 
syndromic surveillance efforts were lacking. Two articles described 
how syndromic data were used for decision-making. One article 
measured the effect of data utilization.

Conclusions
Within the syndromic surveillance literature instances of a 

conceptual shift from detection to practical response are plentiful. As 
the field of syndromic surveillance continues to evolve and is used by 
public health institutions, further evaluation of data utility and impact 
is needed.

Keywords
impact; utility; evaluation; literature

Acknowledgments
Special thanks to— Mark Bova, Kevin Cranston, Alfred DeMaria, Rosa 
Ergas, Gillian Haney, Monina Klevens, and Sita Smith.

*Stefanie P. Albert
E-mail: stefanie.albert@state.ma.us

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 10(1):e79, 2018