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Evaluation of Real-Time Mortality Surveillance Based on Media Reports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2016

Olaniyi O. Olayinka Open the ORCID record for Olaniyi O. Olayinka [Opens in a new window] ,
Tesfaye M. Bayleyegn ,
Rebecca S. Noe ,
Lauren S. Lewis ,
Vincent Arrisi  and
Amy F. Wolkin
Olaniyi O. Olayinka*
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia
Tesfaye M. Bayleyegn
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia
Rebecca S. Noe
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia
Lauren S. Lewis
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia
Vincent Arrisi
Affiliation:
New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, Trenton, New Jersey
Amy F. Wolkin
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Olaniyi Olayinka, MD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Studies Branch, Atlanta, Georgia (e-mail: oolayink@odu.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

We evaluated the usefulness and accuracy of media-reported data for active disaster-related mortality surveillance.

Methods

From October 29 through November 5, 2012, epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracked online media reports for Hurricane Sandy–related deaths by use of a keyword search. To evaluate the media-reported data, vital statistics records of Sandy-related deaths were compared to corresponding media-reported deaths and assessed for percentage match. Sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and timeliness of the media reports for detecting Sandy-related deaths were calculated.

Results

Ninety-nine media-reported deaths were identified and compared with the 90 vital statistics death records sent to the CDC by New York City (NYC) and the 5 states that agreed to participate in this study. Seventy-five (76%) of the media reports matched with vital statistics records. Only NYC was able to actively track Sandy-related deaths during the event. Moderate sensitivity (83%) and PPV (83%) were calculated for the matching media-reported deaths for NYC.

Conclusions

During Hurricane Sandy, the media-reported information was moderately sensitive, and percentage match with vital statistics records was also moderate. The results indicate that online media-reported deaths can be useful as a supplemental source of information for situational awareness and immediate public health decision-making during the initial response stage of a disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:460–466)

Keywords

public health surveillancedisastershurricanemedia
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 460 - 466
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

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