Data Highlights

72 datasets worldwide

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Data Highlights of the Global Determinants of Health Datasets

Text on slide reads: The data highlights reflect 72 datasets identified as of March 2023. It is important to note that the data highlights provide an overview of the datasets we could identity rather than the universe of all relevant datasets. While our team identified several datasets around the world, some datasets may not be available on this website because we were unable to locate them through regular search or they are unavailable digitally. Lastly, this repository only showcases individual level datasets. This initiative strives to promote increased access and transparency to data for researchers around the globe. Thus, the datasets on this repository should not be considered exhaustive and we will continue updating this website as we identify more individual level datasets.

The number of datasets in the United States is almost equal to that of the African continent

The difference in the number of datasets reflects the inequities around data availability on the determinants of health. More investment is needed to develop and share data globally to better understand the determinants of health landscape on a granular level.

Bar chart showing that Africa has 12 datasets and the United States has 17.

Nearly 80% of survey organizations are not directly affiliated with the surveyed country

Most surveys are performed by organizations that do not have a direct affiliation with the surveyed country. This could mean that vital information related to the social determinants in these countries’ populations may not have local contextualization.

Pie chart showing the affiliation of the survey organization to the country surveyed: 21.7% are Yes and 78.3% are No.

Africans are 61% more likely to be surveyed by an unaffiliated group than the rest of the global population

In Africa (98%), Asia (77%), and South America (69%) populations are more likely to be surveyed by an unaffiliated group. This can result in biased questions, results analysis and interpretation, as well as discrimination.

A 100% stacked bar chart showing the survey group affiliation match to they country by continent. From top to bottom: Africa, Europe, Asia, South America, North America, and Oceania. From left to right: Yes and No.

A third of global determinants of health datasets are not publicly accessible

A pie chart showing that 63% of datasets are publicly available.

Less than half of datasets are linked to health outcomes

Datasets need to have stronger links to health outcomes for researchers to better understand the link between the determinants of health and the health of populations within specific regions.

A pie chart showing that only 45.2% of datasets are linked to health outcomes

More consistency in the frequency of data collection is needed

66 datasets have one wave of data collection, while only 18 datasets have two waves and 13 have three waves. Only one dataset has longitudinal data collection. 59 datasets have a varying frequency of data collection.

A bar chart depicting the collection frequency of data: 59 datasets annually, 44 datasets every few years, and 6 datasets multiple times per year.

What are the top collected social determinants of health? A call to standardize our language usage

Without a consistent language amongst the researchers collecting data about the social determinants of health, it is difficult to accurately say which health determinants are the most and least researched.

A word cloud showing the large number of terms used when collecting social determinants of health data. Size of word relates to most used.
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