Health indicators: A vision of health of interest to Family Medicine

Abstract

Both the Public Health approach and the Clinical approach to health aim at improving or maintaining health, and both are scientific in nature. Clinical, laboratorial or epidemiological indicators are approaches to knowledge useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of the health situation, and for the measuring the impact of interventions. Data quality, among other characteristics, is of paramount importance for the quality of the outcome when using health indicators. Most indicators used in Public Health are measures of frequency, association or impact at population level and result of the epidemiological approach to individual data or information, sometimes of clinical nature. The simplest example of the interconnections between the Public Health approach and the Clinical approach to health may be illustrated by individual pharmacological interventions, curative or preventive, which efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness were evaluated in groups of individuals where that individual was, almost certainly, not included. The interests, approaches and practices of Medical General Practitioners and Public Health Medical practitioners are constantly converging. It seems important that both are aware of this for the sake of a better individual and population health.