Historical Application of Statistics in the Field of Health Care
The application of statistics and data interpretation is of great importance in health care. Statistics has been historically and currently used in healthcare for risk analysis, resource utilization, patient satisfaction, mortality, morbidity, inventory management, clinical trials, and research, among others. Health statistics give information for planning, monitoring, understanding, and improving the use of resources to promote well-being, provide services, and enhance individuals’ lives. Furthermore, Bartkowiak and Finnegan (2004) posit that health statistics offer empirical data to help in the allocation of private and public funds and also help determine the manner in which research efforts need to be focused.
Medical statistics started with the name of numerical method in the early nineteenth century (Feinleib, 2014). Initially, the use of case series or case studies was common in proving that a treatment was beneficial or that a particular etiology was the cause of a certain illness. Statistical sampling techniques took a while. Some of the common pioneers of statistics in healthcare include Florence Nightingale, William Farr, and William Guy, among others. William Farr is recognized as a pioneer of the quantitative study of mortality and morbidity, helping to establish the field of medical statistics.
Farr was greatly responsible for establishing the procedures for analyzing and collecting the official mortality statistics. In 1845, he introduced the standard death certificate, which was used until 1902 (Feinleib, 2014). Farr’s statistical methods have had lasting impacts, such as defining mortality rates precisely and basing them on person-years at risk, using the life expectancy and life table as major instruments to assess mortality, proposing a paradigm used to estimate the economic value of human life at every age and social class and recommending the longitudinal cohort studies. The association of Farr with Florence Nightingale resulted in contributions to the application of statistical information for health policy purposes, especially in regard to graphic data presentation. Farr set up a system that routinely recorded the causes of death, making it possible to compare mortality rates of different occupations. He discovered that after 35 years of age, mortality rates among male miners were higher than those with different occupations, discovering that pulmonary diseases were the main cause of rapid death among miners (majorly attributed to the labor conditions) (Granados, 2018). With the statistics, it is currently possible to identify individuals at higher risk of certain diseases and make recommendations for healthy living. Through health statistics, evidence-based care can now be offered to patients.
References
Bartkowiak, B. A., & Finnegan, B. J. (2004). Health Statistics. Clinical Medicine & Research, 2(3), 189-190.
Feinleib, M. (2014). Health Statistics, History of. Wiley.
Granados, J. (2018). William Farr. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Farr
Mayer, D. (2020). A Brief History of Medicine and Statistics. Cambridge University Press.
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Question 
Historical Application of Statistics in the Field of Health Care
Historical Application of Statistics in the Field of Health Care
Discuss the historical application of statistics in the field of health care.
Describe an example, other than Florence Nightingale’s contributions, where the statistical application has greatly influenced or changed health care operations or practice.