The use of syndromic surveillance for decision-making during the H1N1 pandemic: A qualitative study

BMC Public Health

Table 2 Characteristics of Ontario syndromic surveillance systems, overall (N = 26) and by data source

System characteristic	ED^a		SA^a		Other^a		Overall
	n	%	n	%	n	%	Total	%
Operation Length
1 year or less	2	22	4	40	1	14	7	27
2-4 years	3	33	5	50	1	14	9	35
5 years or more	4	44	1	10	5	71	10	38
Syndrome Based	9	100	4	40	6	86	19	73
Frequency of Data Provision
Real-time	4	44	0	0	0	0	4	15
Daily	3	33	6	60	3	43	12	46
Weekly	2	22	4	40	4	57	10	38
Mechanism of Transfer^b
Automated	5	56	3	30	0	0	8	36
Manual	2	22	6	60	2	67	10	45
Both components	2	22	1	10	1	33	4	18
Frequency of Monitoring^c
More than daily	2	25	0	0	0	0	2	9
Daily	4	50	6	60	2	50	12	55
Weekly	1	13	4	40	2	50	7	32
Other	1	13	0	0	0	0	1	5
Threshold or Algorithm Used in Analysis	6	67	9	90	2	29	17	65
Response Protocol^c	2	25	5	50	1	25	8	36

^a ED, emergency department visits (n = 9); SA, school absenteeism (n = 10), and other includes daycare absenteeism (1), OTC pharmacy sales (1), sentinel ILI consultations (3), Telehealth (1) and workplace absenteeism (1).
^b4 missing responses for Other systems. ^c1 missing response for ED systems and 3 missing responses for Other systems.

ISSN: 1471-2458