Why Abesenteeism Surveillance ?
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Sick Absence Definitions
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Historically, public health has used school absenteeism data from schools as a way of measuring the impact of the influenza season. Absences above expected levels could be an indicator of a significant health event such as a disease outbreak or an environmental concern in the school. For example, during the 2006-2007 school year, an increase in absences at one elementary school prompted an investigation which identified an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness.
Theoretically, absenteeism surveillance could also be used for identifying significant health events such as pandemic influenza in the surrounding community. However, the past system didn’t provide enough information and was not timely enough for public health to intervene effectively.
The Davis County Health Department (DCHD) has partnered with the Davis School District to develop a new enhanced computerized system for collecting absenteeism data at the individual school level. The biggest change to the system will be the addition of data fields that teachers and attendance clerks will be asked to use when recording attendance. The new data fields request entry of the type of absence. If “sick” is entered as the reason for absence, then the system will automatically ask for type of sickness (GI, respiratory, rash, other, or unknown). DCHD will monitor the data throughout the school year, and when a school has excess “sick” absences, there will be an investigation into the cause.
We are encouraging all schools to develop a system for obtaining the “reasons for absence”. Your efforts are crucial to the quality of data. Some schools already have procedures in place for calling the homes of absent students for safety purposes; this provides an ideal opportunity for obtaining the “reasons for absence”. Also, some schools are planning to inform parents of the new system and request that they call when their child is absent.
To aide in the process of obtaining this information, we have enclosed the definitions for the types of sickness that will be monitored in the new system. For questions, please contact Nicole Stone, Surveillance Coordinator for Davis County Health Department (801) 451-3502. nstone@co.davis.ut.us |
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PARENTS: PLEASE LET THE SCHOOL KNOW THE TYPE OF SICKNESS YOUR CHILD IS HAVING USING THE FOLLOWING CODES:
GI – gastrointestinal Illness: use this category for students who are absent because of stomach ache, “stomach flu”, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
Respiratory: use this category for students who are absent because of cough, sore throat, runny nose, congestion, sinus infections, influenza or “flu”
Rash: use this category for students who are absent because of chickenpox or any other rash illnesses
Other: use this category for sick students who are absent because of sickness that doesn’t fit into the other categories, for example: headache or chronic conditions such as asthma
Unknown: use this category when the student was absent because of sickness, but the type of sickness was not reported
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