LibGuides: Medical Laboratory Science: Find Statistics

Respiratory Care Librarian

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Briggs Library 123

(605) 688-5571

Subjects: Biology & Microbiology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Health & Medical Sciences

CDC Data
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national agency tasked with managing public health. They collect data and statistics on a variety of topics at the national, state, and local levels.
HealthData.gov
HealthData.gov is a U.S. government website dedicated to making high value health data more accessible to entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy makers in the hopes of better health outcomes for all. Data is pulled from a variety of national agencies.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
Prepared and published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the MMWR series is the agency’s primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.

South Dakota Department of Health
The Office of Health Statistics helps collect and develop data used by the Department of Health (DOH) and the public. The office partners with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to administer the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
Behavioral Health Barometer: South Dakota
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration creates a behavioral health barometer for each state based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

World Health Organization Statistics
The Global Health Observatory, part of WHO, collects data and creates reports on a variety of topics related to global health.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics
The OECD offers the most comprehensive source of comparable statistics on health and health systems across OECD countries. It is an essential tool to carry out comparative analyses and draw lessons from international comparisons of diverse health systems.
Our World in Data
Our World in Data is a free resource dedicated to using research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Pulling from a variety of sources, researchers create data visualizations to educate the public on a variety of topics.

Data.gov
Data.gov is the home of the U.S. government's open data. It is a place to search for data on almost any topic.
Census Bureau Data
The Census Bureau releases collected data and data visualizations on data.census.gov.
KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation)
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Rural Health Information Hub
The Rural Health Information Hub collects, analyzes, and shares data related to public, behavioral, and mental health in rural areas of the United States.

Think about who would "care." Who would care enough to collect the data you need? Who might need to know (government agencies, professional organizations, etc.) the statistic you need to find? Thinking about who would collect your data will help you focus your search.
Check your dates. Data is collected and shared at different times--health data published in a research paper in 2022, for example, may have been collected before world events like the spread of COVID-19. Make sure to double-check that the data you find is from a timeframe that makes sense for your research.
Ask a librarian! Finding data and statistics is tricky, and often involves creative searching beyond library databases and Google Scholar. Librarians can help--use the chat at the bottom right hand corner of the page.