Chronic Disease - CDNR Spring 2001 - Searchable Internet-Based Databases Enhance Accessibility and Usefulness of NCCDPHP Data

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Chronic Disease Notes and Reports

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Volume 14 • Number 2 • Spring/Summer 2001

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Searchable Internet-Based Databases Enhance Accessibility and Usefulness of NCCDPHP Data

As the Internet continues to gain popularity as the principal mode of rapid, cost-effective, mass communication and information exchange, NCCDPHP continues to expand its presence on the World Wide Web. Currently, there are more than 3,500 HTML pages directly accessible on the NCCDPHP Web site (a significant increase from the 26 pages that were on-line in 1995). In addition to the HTML pages are brochures, books, surveillance reports, briefing documents, and other publications on the NCCDPHP Web site, which can be viewed, downloaded, or printed. Visitors to the Web site may send electronic comments and inquiries to program personnel—during fiscal year 2000, NCCDPHP received and responded to 58,245 public inquiries over the Inter-net via the public inquiry E-mail address (ccdinfo@cdc.gov). Web site visitors place on-line orders for CD-ROMs, conference registration, and health education materials. Much of the information that used to be exchanged between NCCDPHP and citizens, businesses, employees, and government agencies by telephone, fax, and snail mail is now exchanged via the Internet and E-mail.

In recent years, NCCDPHP has expanded its use of on-line databases to make vast amounts of information available to Web site visitors. According to Mike Coss, CDC computer scientist, NCCDPHP is making information available through on-line databases because "on-line databases allow us to publish large amounts of data or other structured information more efficiently. Data can automatically populate a predefined template based on user-selected options, streamlining what could otherwise take many thousands of Web pages. Data can be added or modified very quickly without the need to create additional HTML pages. And they can allow users to view the data in ways that best meet their needs." For example, the Interactive State Maps in the Heart Disease Mortality Among Women Database, which uses CDC's Geographical Information System, allow users to display data for a particular state, categorized by race/ethnicity. Users can look at aggregate data for a particular question in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Online Prevalence database, or they can view data grouped by education, income, or gender. The National Oral Health Surveillance System allows users to choose to display data graphically or in tables. NCCDPHP currently provides direct, free, searchable Internet-based access to more than ten on-line databases through the NCCDPHP Web site, and several more Internet-based databases are under development.

The following databases can be accessed through the NCCDPHP Web site:

Assisted Reproductive Technology Report

BRFSS Prevalence Data

BRFSS State Publications

Cancer Legislation

Healthy Youth Funding Database

Heart Disease Mortality Among Women

National Oral Health Surveillance System

Smoking and Health Database

STATE System

Tobacco Industry Documents Database

The newest addition to NCCDPHP's collection of on-line databases, the Chronic Disease Prevention (CDP) Databases, will be available on the Internet soon. These bibliographic databases aim to provide relevant and current information to health professionals who are responsible for supporting, planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating disease prevention and risk reduction activities. Reba Norman, CDC technical information specialist, explained the reasons for the increased volume of Internet-based technical information services: "We are moving to the Web in an attempt to keep up with the growing demand for up-to-the-minute, easy, free access to our databases. Today, many people have access to the Internet, and they can save time and money by researching from their computers at home or work."

Five NCCDPHP-produced databases comprise the CDP Databases:

The Health Promotion and Education Database.
The Cancer Prevention and Control Database.
The Prenatal Smoking Cessation Database.
The Epilepsy Education and Prevention Activities Database.
The NCCDPHP Publications Database.

The Health Promotion and Education Database (HPED) contains more than 30,000 bibliographic records for journal articles, books and book chapters, reports, monographs, proceedings, manuals, and other documents related to health promotion and education, risk reduction, and chronic disease prevention. Also included in this database are more than 5,000 descriptions of community intervention, health promotion, and health education programs; these program records are updated annually. Items from 1980 through the present are included in this database.

The Cancer Prevention and Control Database (CPCD) contains more than 5,100 bibliographic records of journal articles, book chapters, monographs, educational materials, policy documents, papers, information packages, and other materials related to early detection and control of breast, cervical, colorectal, and skin cancer. Materials included in this database cover topics such as screening, surveillance, professional training and education, public information and education, evaluation, and research. Descriptions of national, state, and local cancer prevention programs and risk reduction activities are also included in this database, which catalogs materials from 1988 through the present.

Entries on effective prenatal smoking cessation activities and risk reduction efforts comprise the Prenatal Smoking Cessation Database (PSCD). This database contains almost 2,300 bibliographic citations and abstracts for journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, proceedings, papers, policy documents, and other published and unpublished documents and program descriptions dated from 1980 through the present. Some of the major subject areas included in this database are smoking cessation methodology, surveillance, evaluation, public education, professional training and education, relapse, economic issues, and special populations.

On-line Tobacco Information Databases

The Smoking and Health Database has been available for searching on the CDC Web site since November 1997. Started in the late 1960s after the release of the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, the database contains over 63,000 abstracts of published articles and other published materials on tobacco control and smoking and health issues. It is updated quarterly, with about 1,800 items added each year. One of the most popular pages on the CDC's Tobacco Information and Prevention Web site, the database is accessed by 6,000 to 7,000 Internet users each month. According to Paulette Murphy, CDC technical information specialist, "We decided to put it on the Web to increase its accessibility both domestically and globally. The Web helped solve our problems of accessibility to government-developed databases." The Smoking and Health Database can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/search/index.htm.

A second database, the Tobacco Industry Documents Database, was added to the CDC Web site in the fall of 1999 (accessible at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/industrydocs). Work on this database was initiated after former President Clinton issued an executive order on July 17, 1998, to increase accessibility and availability of documents released as the result of lawsuits with the tobacco companies. Four components comprise the Tobacco Industry Documents Database:

Links to other Internet sites, mostly maintained by tobacco companies, that contain tobacco industry documents.
A merged searchable version of the 4B Index, which was provided by the tobacco company defendants as a systematic way to access the documents released in the Minnesota litigation.
The Minnesota Select Set, a subset of approximately 380,000 pages of the total 27 million pages made available during the Minnesota litigation.
The Guildford-British American Tobacco Documents Subset, approximately 7,000 British American Tobacco Company documents obtained during the Minnesota litigation. These documents were selected by attorneys during the Minnesota litigation out of a collection of several million British American Tobacco Company documents stored at the Guilford, England, depository. These documents have particular significance for those working in global tobacco control.

For more information about the Smoking and Health Database and the Tobacco Industry Documents Database, contact Paulette Murphy at 770/488-5849, E-mail pmurphy@cdc.gov or Sarah Gregory at 770/488-5748, E-mail sgregory@cdc.gov.

The Epilepsy Education and Prevention Activities Database (EEPAD) contains more than 2,600 records related to effective epilepsy early detection and control, education, and prevention activities. Bibliographic citations and abstracts and international, national, state, and local program descriptions from 1980 through the present are included in this database. The major subject areas covered in this database are early detection and control methodology, quality of life, surveillance, consumer and provider education, treatment compliance, special populations, and legislation.

The NCCDPHP Publications Database contains bibliographic records describing publications produced by NCCDPHP or authored by NCCDPHP staff. Currently, this database contains almost 2,000 records for journal articles, monographs, technical reports, proceedings, book chapters, papers, policy documents, and fact sheets, all of which were published from 1988 through the present.

All five databases included in the CDP Databases provide sources and availability information for all materials so that users may obtain the materials directly. The databases are maintained by CDC and are updated with new references added quarterly; in the future, the databases will be updated monthly. Technical assistance is available to users via an Internet-based "Contact Us" feature. CDP Databases, previously distributed only via CD-ROM, will use a new Web interface that allows for easy user searches. A new and important feature of the CDP Databases is that users will be able to access full-text electronic versions of some of the documents: "We have always offered citation and abstract information, but now we are able to offer full text of selected journal articles in our databases," Ms. Norman said. "Links are also provided to selected full-text documents that are already available elsewhere on the Internet."

Four of the databases included in CDP Databases (HPED, CPCD, PSCD, and EEPAD) are also accessible through the Combined Health Information Database (CHID) Online, located at www.chid.nih.gov. CHID Online is produced by CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and the Health Resources and Services Administration through a cooperative effort. CHID Online, which encompasses 16 topical databases, is updated four times a year and has been available to the public free of charge on the CHID Online Web site since March 1997.

For more information about CDP Databases, contact Reba Norman at 770/ 488-5080, E-mail rnorman@cdc.gov. For more information about CHID Online, E-mail the CHID Technical Coordinator at chid@aerie.com.

CDP File CD-ROM

The Chronic Disease Prevention (CDP) Databases, available soon on the Web, are also available on CD-ROM as CDP File. Updated quarterly, the CDP File CD-ROM, like the Web-based CDP Databases, provides references to sources of information about health education and promotion, early detection, disease prevention and control, and other health-related activities.

In addition to the five databases that are accessible on the Web—the Health Promotion and Education Database, the Cancer Prevention and Control Database, the Prenatal Smoking Cessation Database, the Epilepsy Education and Prevention Activities Database, and the NCCDPHP Publications Database—CDP File on CD-ROM includes three additional databases:

The State Profile Programs Database enables users to search by states and quickly locate state-specific program descriptions and contacts contained in the Health Promotion and Education, Cancer Prevention and Control, Prenatal Smoking Cessation, and Epilepsy Education and Prevention Activities databases.
The Smoking and Health Database contains bibliographic records for information about smoking and tobacco use.
The Chronic Disease Prevention Directory includes the names and addresses of people and organizations working in health promotion and disease prevention. It is updated annually and can be used to locate contact information for specific individuals or organizations or to generate mailing lists and labels.

Since 1992, updates of the CDP File have been distributed quarterly to a site in each state; these state sites have agreed to make the CD-ROM accessible to all state health department staff. CDP File is also routinely distributed to schools of public health, NCCDPHP cancer prevention and prenatal smoking cessation cooperative agreement partners, and National Association of Epilepsy Centers and Epilepsy Foundation of America affiliates. Others can purchase the CDP File CD-ROM and updates from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office. Call 202/512-1800 for ordering information (stock no. 717-145-00000-3).

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Chronic Disease Notes & Reports is published by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. The contents are in the public domain.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, MPH
Director, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion James S. Marks, MD, MPH
Managing Editor Teresa Ramsey
Staff Writers Linda Elsner, Helen McClintock, Valerie Johnson, Teresa Ramsey, Suzanne Johnson-DeLeon, Diana Toomer
Guest Writer Linda Orgain	Layout & Design Herman Surles	Copy Editor Suzanne Johnson-DeLeon
Address correspondence to Managing Editor, Chronic Disease Notes & Reports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mail Stop K–11, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717; 770/488-5050, fax 770/488-5095 E-mail: ccdinfo@cdc.gov NCCDPHP Internet Web site: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp

This page last reviewed August 10, 2004

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion