Health and medical statistics are collected by many public and private organizations. To find specific statistics you may need to look at a variety of sources. You will also want to examine the methods used to collect those statistics to determine if the accuracy is sufficient for your purposes.

The most complete health statistics are collected on those infectious diseases which must be reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Another agency, The National Center for Health Statistics conducts several surveys and their publications, especially the Vital and Health Statistics Series are often the best sources for statistics on diseases and procedures not studied by the CDC. Insurance companies also collect data on disease frequency, procedures, and costs of illnesses. This information is frequently proprietary and companies may share their data only under specific circumstances. Large data sets are collected by some research centers and may be available for research. Many specialized statistics do not exist at all or may be available only as estimates extrapolated from smaller studies and surveys. These smaller studies are published in journal articles which can be found by searching bibliographic databases or print indexes. The book Health Statistics: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide to Information Resources may also help you to locate sources of statistical information.

Statistics

General Sources
Vital Statistics and Demographics: Mortality and Natality
Morbidity (Who has what)
Manpower and Facilities
Economic Aspects
Social Aspects and Special Groups
Links to Organizations that Collect Statistics
Other Sources of Statistical Information

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