What database helps researchers ID variables affecting health?

Challenge

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the factors that influence people’s health outcomes and access to health care services. Although many SDOH variables exist for patient‑centered outcomes research, they are not easy to access or streamlined into one database. The goal of AHRQ’s SDOH database, developed with funding from the PCOR Trust Fund, is to provide easily accessible, SDOH-focused data for research so as to inform health strategies, and ultimately help improve health and health care with evidence.

AHRQ wanted an updated SDOH database for researchers to easily find and use a wide range of the most relevant, well-documented, readily linkable SDOH variables at the census tract, zip code, and county levels. AHRQ turned to Westat to update and further develop this database to improve usability, as well as increase the number of users.

Solution

Westat brings our collaborative experience to this project with team members across Westat sectors: health services researchers, geospatial analysts, data visualization experts, and leaders in evaluation design and implementation. Westat, along with Pantheon, shows data expertise, efficiency, and quality control strengths as we update the database and add new SDOH metrics for each new version.

We also highlight our small area estimation (SAE) techniques by continuing to build out measures at smaller geographies.

We have the capability to produce novel data visualizations using the latest visualization and geospatial software, which can help highlight health outcomes locally or across the nation.

Westat also leads dissemination tasks to effectively promote and market the database and determine whether the needs of database users are met.  

Westat will continue to add new database measures and data sources across a range of SDOH domains (housing, transportation, access to care) in future versions of the database. We will also develop new ways to engage database users through novel data visualizations, implementation from user feedback, and conference presentations to increase use and applicability of the SDOH database.

Results

The SDOH database provides easily accessible data to researchers across many sectors. It’s a useful resource for producing research that aims to empower patients and strengthen markets to improve health outcomes.