About
We aim to serve all faculty, fellows, residents, and students with research support needs in order to improve the quality and long-term success of scientific research. This page is meant to provide the epidemiology and biostatistics background to better prepare researchers to plan and conduct their own research studies as well as better prepare them for their collaborative work with our RISE team.
Biostatistics Training & Practice
This GraphPad guide examines general principles of statistical analyses, looks at how to conduct those analyses using the GraphPad statistical program Prism, and how to interpret results. See the Principles of Statistics page to review some important issues in statistics, and Guided Examples of Statistical Analyses page for examples of some common statistical analyses using Prism, including descriptive statistics, comparing two groups, and diagnostic tests.
GraphPad Prism offers GraphPad Quick Calcs which can be used to view and become comfortable with the way in which data needs to be entered depending upon the statistical test. There are many other software options available, some of which are free for use. While using GraphPad Quick Calcs, choose the type of data and analysis you have or would like to run and follow the prompts for entering data and conducting your analysis.
Epidemiology & Study Design Info
If you'd like to review or plan on becoming involved in clinical trials, please see clinicaltrials.gov. This site provides the current status of privately and publicly funded clinical studies. Further, many devices, biologics, etc. are required by law to be registered via clinicaltrials.gov.
The RISE team has collected a list of publicly available datasets and data warehouses that can be used to answer a variety of research questions. The data listed covers a myriad of topics including insurance coverage, drug use, social vulnerability, community surveys, census records, food access and nutrition, geography and rural-urban planning, and more. Data sources come from both survey collection, electronic medical records, and government mandated data collection.
Please see the table below to access the data source list.
This document will continue to be amended with new data sources as we find them. If you know of any you would like to have included on this list, then please contact us at RISE@odu.edu.
For any data used from this spreadsheet please remember to submit an IRB proposal stating your intentions with the dataset you plan to use.
| Provider | Cost | Training Required | Dataset type | Population | Geography | Data Modalities | NOTES | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology | Free | CITI and Data Use Agreements | Varies | Varies | Varies | Demographics, labs, medications, diagnoses, etc. | PhysioNet | |
| Philips Healthcare/MIT | Free | Training course | Electronic Health Record | ICU patients from U.S. hospitals | US | Demographics, vital signs, lab results, medications, diagnoses, treatments | eICU | |
| Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services | Free | None | Medicare claims/public-health utilization and spending | Medicare Fee-to-Service beneficiaires receiving COVID-19 vaccines | US | Claims-based vaccination utilization and spending | Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services | |
| NCI | Free | None | Survey | Cancer survivors in US | US | Information, knowledge, risk behaviors | *** need to submit a request | HINTS-SEER |
| NIDA | Free | None, but recommended to complete a training on linking files | Survey | US adults | US | Behaviors, attitudes, biomarkers, and health outcomes associated with tobacco use | *** multiple levels of access | PATH |
| AHRQ | Free | None | Survey | US adults, medical providers | US | Cost and use of healthcare and health insurance | AHRQ MEPS | |
| SAMHSA | Free | None | Survey | US adolescents and adults (12+) | US | Tobacco, alcohol, drug use, mental health, and health data | NSDUH | |
| CDC | Free | None | Survey | US adults | US | Numerous health topics | *** need to request access | NHIS |
| NORC | Free | None | Survey | US adults | US | Behavioral and attitudinal questions about civil liberties, crime, violence, morality, stress | GSS | |
| CDC | Free | None | Survey | US adults | US | Prevalence data among adult U.S. residents regarding their risk behaviors and preventive health practices | BRFSS | |
| Center for Health Disparities Research, University of Wisconsin | Free | Varies, possible DUAs | Survey | US adults | US | Composite neighborhood deprivation score (income, education, housing, etc.) | Neighborhood Atlas Area Deprivation Index | |
| CDC | Free | None | Geographic split | US population | US | Socioeconomic status, household composition, minority status, housing type, etc. | *** Only done every other year (2010, 2012, 2014, and so on) | SVI |
| USDA | Free | None | Census Tract from ZIP | US population | US | Food desert flags, low access population, SNAP participation | USDA Food Atlas | |
| Health Resources and Services Administration | Free | None | Varies | US population | US | Primary care shortage designation, HPSA score, provider to population ratio | *** HPSA is one of many files available from HRSA | HRSA Shortage Area |
| Virginia Department of Health | Free | None | County based split | US population | US | Health outcomes rank, health factors rank, preventable hospital stays rate, etc. | County Health Rankings | |
| Census | Free | None | Zip code based split | US population | US | Median household income, % below poverty, % with severe housing cost burden, etc. | *** Updates every 5 years (2010, 2015, 2020, etc.) | ACS |
| Census | Free | None | 5 year estimates | US population | US | Primary exposure, percent of households receiving SNAP, ZCTA level | ACS SNAP | |
| Census | Free | None | Yearly estimates | US population | US | ZCTA adult population (18+) as the denominator/offset | ACS Housing | |
| USDA | Free | None | Zip code based split | US population | US | Rurality, ZIP-level RUCA categories | USDA Commuting Codes | |
| Office of Policy Development and Research | Free | None | Zip code based split | US population | US | Quarterly Residential Crosswlak for ZIP level linkage | ***Will need to register with the website | USPS Crosswalk |
| US HHS | Free | None | Varies | US population | US | Demographics, socioeconomic factors, geospatial | Health.gov | |
| Truveta | Unknown | Unknown | Electronic Health Record | Patients from 30 US health systems | US | Demographics, labs, imaging, claims, mortality, pediatric/mother data, admission-discharge-transfer data, insurance payer data, genomics | ***Sentara Health is cofounder of this HER, however, I did not get a response when I inquire about data access process. | Truveta |
| CDC | Free | None | Varies | US population | US | Demographics, health behaviors, comorbidities, health outcomes, cancer mental health, vaccination | CDC Health Stats | |
| CDC | Free | None | Survey, health exams, and lab testing | US adults & children | US | Interviews about health, diet, and personal, social, and economic characteristics; dental exams and health and body measurements; tests on blood, urine, DNA, oral swabs & rinses. | *** restricted data of geographic variables and DNA can be requested. Can be linked with Medicare and Medicaid data. | NHANES |
| CDC | Free | None | Aggregate-level (year, geolocation, demographics) | Varies | US | Ad-hoc queries for mortality, natality, population, environmental and other public health datasets; outputs are counts and rates. | *** query results can be exported. | CDC Wonder |
| AHRQ | with fee | None | Hospital encounters | Varies | US | Various databases cover inpatient, emergency department, pediatric inpatient, and ambulatory surgery settings. | ***need to submit a request; 80% off for students | HCUP |
| Johns Hopkins & U Mich | Free | None | Survey | 65 and older Medicare beneficiaries | US | In-person interviews collect detailed information on the disablement process and its consequences. | *** need to register to access data | NHATS |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Free | None | Survey + biomarkers + physical measures for later waves | Adolescents in grades 7-12 in the 1994-95 school year | US | Longitudinal study of adolescents. Demographic, social, familial, behavioral, psychosocial, cognitive, and health survey data from participants and their parents; contextual data from participants’ schools, neighborhoods, and geographies of residence; and in-home physical and biological data from participants, including genetic markers, blood-based assays, anthropometric measures, and medications. | *** The public-use data sets contain all the survey data but only for a subset of the full Add Health sample. | Add Health |
Questions?
Please contact the RISE helpdesk if you have any questions.
