Epidemiological softwares

EXERCISE-4: DEMONSTRATION OF SELECTED SOFTWARE PROGRAMMES/MODELS

EPI INFO

  • Epi Info is a series of programs for Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT and 2000 for use by public heath professionals in conducting outbreak investigations, managing databases for public health surveillance and other tasks, general database and statistics applications.
  • With Epi Info and a personal computer, physicians, epidemiologists and other public health and medical workers can rapidly develop a questionnaire or form, customize the data entry process and enter and analyze data.
  • Epidemiologic statistics, graphs and tables are produced with simple commands like READ, FREQ, LIST, TABLES AND GRAPH. A component called Epi map displays geographic maps with data form Epi Info.
  • Epi Info is in the public domain and can be downloaded form the internet.
  • CD-ROM copies and printed manuals are expected to be available from private vendors. Epi Info 2002 is written in Visual Basic, Version 6.
  • It uses the Microsoft Access file format as a gateway to industry database standards.
  • Although Epi Info 2003 data is sorted in Microsoft Access files for maximum compatibility with other systems, a many other file types can be analyzed, imported or exported.
  • Epi Info 2002 include as Geographic Information System (GIS) called Epi map, built around the MapObjects program from Environmental systems Research, Inc. (ESRI), the producers of ARC View.
  • Epi map is compatible with GIS data from numerous internet sites in the popular ESRI formats.
  • Epi Info 2002 retains may features of the familiar Epi Info for DOS, while offering windows strengths like point and click ease of use, graphics, fonts and painless printing,.
  • The programs, documentation and teaching materials are in the public domain and may be freely copied, distributed or translated.

Using Epi Info 2002

  • Epi Info is a database and statistics program for public health professionals.
  • Although it can be programmed too produce systems for repeated or permanent use, it can also be used interactively for rapid questionnaire design, data entry and analysis during an investigation.
  • Setting up a new database in Epi Info is done in Makeview, the view or questionnaire designer. Makeview allows any number of fields or questions to be placed on successive pages of a questionnaire or form.
  • Related views can also be constructed using buttons for point and click access.
  • Legal values automatic code fields and more complex data-entry operations can be included in the view at the time it is designed or later.
  • Once a view is designed, it is saved automatically. A menu choice called ENTER DATA or simply running the Enter program with the new view will automatically construct another table in the same database (MDB) for storing the data and present the form ready for data entry.
    • During data entry, the special constraints selected during design become active, and the user can move from recorded to record in several ways, or search for records having particular values. Records are saved automatically whenever a new page or record is requested.
    • Access to data in Epi Info view or data tables or in a variety of other file formats, including HTML and those with ODBC drivers, requires only the READ command in Analysis.
    • Output in HTML format is produced by LIST, FREQUENCY, TABLES and several other commands. Data cleaning can be performed with the aid of RECODE, IF and SELECT statements.
    • The MAP and GRAPH commands allow data to be linked to industry standard shape files for mapping and to be represented in a variety of graph types.
  • A special purposed program called NutStat compares data on height, weight, age, sex and arm circumference with international reference standards for assessment of nutritional status. NutStat can be linked to an Epi Info 2002 View for data entry or used alone.
  • The Epi Map program allows a variety of maps to be constructed and liked to data in Epi Info or Access data tables. Epi Map offers a high degree of compatibility with the popular Acc View program of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI)

Components of Epi Info 2002

  • Epi Info 2002 has a number of components
    • MakeView
    • Enter
    • Analysis
    • Statcalc
    • Epi Map
    • VisData
    • EpiLock
    • Data Compare
    • Table to View
    • Help
    • Tutorials
    • Exercises

System requirements

  • Windows, 95,98,NT, 2000, ME and XP with 32 megabytes of RAM-More of NT
  • At least 50 megabytes of free hard disk space
  • A 200-megahertz processor (Pentium compatible or greater) is recommended but not required

Last modified: Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 6:00 AM