Health-related Research Tool for CDC Web Users

CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research) is a powerful database tool that puts CDC health data at Web users’ fingertips. The easy-to-use, menu-driven system is free to public health professionals and the general public. CDC WONDER allows Web users to form interactive queries and create reports, charts, and maps of the results.

With this tool, users can:

• Search for and read published documents on public health concerns, including reports, recommendations and guidelines.

• Review reference materials and bibliographies on health-related topics.

• Query multiple numeric data sets via "fill-in-the blank" Web pages.

Available subjects include mortality (deaths) and natality (births), cancer incidence, HIV and AIDS, behavioral risk factors, diabetes, and census data. A summary of data sets or collections helps users understand the nature of each data set. Some of the accessible data collections are not readily available elsewhere. Providing access to several years of data at once, the tool simplifies reviewing health trends over time.

Users can import data accessed from CDC WONDER into desktop applications such as word processors, spreadsheet programs, and statistical and geographic analysis packages. File formats available include plain text (ASCII), Web pages (HTML), and spreadsheet files (comma or tab separated values). Because this tool provides public use data and information, users may access the information freely, and use, copy, distribute, or publish this information without additional or explicit permission. However, users are asked to credit the authors and/or data providers.

CDC WONDER's home page provides three ways to find information:

• Descriptive titles categorize by topic and headings;

• Alphabetical index lists the descriptive title, official name and acronym for each data item; and

• "Search" feature finds pages that contain a specific word or phrase.

The tool is intended to simplify access to public health information for state and local health departments, the Public Health Service, and the academic public health community. It is valuable in public health research, decision making, priority setting, program evaluation, and resource allocation. It is a very popular tool as well: in 2006, CDC WONDER had almost 42.5 million visits from nearly 800,000 computers.

CDC WONDER provides two core services for CDC data collections: data dissemination as "online databases" via the public domain WONDER software, and Web hosting for other Web applications on the WONDER Web server, such as the MMWR "middle tables" and Data2010. The WONDER software provides analysis, visualization and reporting through Web-based data queries, statistics, and interactive charts and maps via a standard user interface, as seen in the "Underlying Cause of Death" online database. The WONDER team provides data management expertise for the data housed in the online databases.

For additional information, see CDC WONDER.