A patient is referred to a doctor to rule out a respiratory infection. The doctor checks the patient’s temperature, and the thermometer measures 98.6 degrees, perfectly normal. Should the doctor conclude the patient is fine and send him home? Of course not. There are other signs and symptoms that may also indicate an infection, such as a high white blood cell count, swelling, tenderness, a productive cough, etc. It is also possible that the thermometer isn’t working properly and the patient does indeed have a fever.
It is rare that any disease will present with the same signs and symptoms in all patients. In the absence of a definitive lab test, a constellation of indicators needs to be evaluated to confidently arrive at a diagnosis. This is no different in populations than it is in individual patients. For public health officials, the problem is complicated by the need to quickly (and often continuously) analyze large amounts of data, acquired from different sources, in a manner that will allow them to discern whether or not phenomena being observed represent a genuine aberration and are cause for alarm. That is the purpose of automated analytic processes known as algorithms.
This week you examine various biosurveillance-alerting algorithms and evaluate their strengths and limitations for public health surveillance. Additionally, you construct a monitoring algorithm for a disease of interest to you.
Creating an Algorithm
Tracking the spread of diseases can be an intricate, complex, and labor-intensive process. As a result, automated surveillance systems utilizing algorithms are employed to interpret data. In this segment of your Scholar-Practitioner Project, you develop a simple algorithm to interpret data related to the disease or condition you selected last week. To aid your development, review your Learning Resources and research the construction of algorithms.
To complete this portion of your Scholar-Practitioner Project, write a 1- to 2-page paper that addresses the following:
Identify the indicators you chose to include and explain why they are appropriate.
Describe the logical process of the algorithm (you may wish to illustrate using a diagram).
Justify any other salient features of the algorithm.
Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the algorithm.
Your written assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to ensure your in-text citations and reference list are correct.
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