Identify six basic types of public health data.

By the end of this chapter, the student will be able to:
• identify six basic types of public health data.
• explain the meaning, use, and limitations of the infant mortality rate and life expectancy measurements.
• explain the meanings and uses of HALEs and DALYs.
• identify criteria for evaluating the quality of information presented on a website.
• explain ways that perceptions affect how people interpret information.
• explain the roles of probabilities, utilities, and the timing of events in combining public health data.
• explain the basic principles for the construction of decision trees and their uses.
• explain how attitudes, such as risk-taking attitudes, may affect decision making.
• identify three different approaches to clinical decision making and their advantages and disadvantages.