NETSS/NEDSS Review Webpage




Lead

Instructions:
CSTE has asked your State Epidemiologist to forward this review of the data elements between CDC’s legacy and NEDSS message. Below, CDC has provided an outline of the methodology and results in its variable comparison between NEDSS and legacy systems, such as NETSS and paper data collection forms. As the lead for Lead surveillance in your state health agency, we would like you to review excel file below, which illustrates the comparison of old and new variables between the legacy systems and the new requirements for sending NEDSS data. When evaluating this, we would like you to determine how feasible these new data elements are for your state and whether you are requesting any changes to the content or required/optional attribute of the variables. You can provide comments at the bottom of this page. This will help us ensure that both your needs and the needs of the CDC are being met.
Download file: http://www.cste.org/Assessment/NEDSS/files/FINAAdultandChildleadcombinedfinal.xls


Methodology
• An Excel spreadsheet of the variables in the NEDSS Implementation Guide was created for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. The spreadsheet contains variables grouped into three categories (worksheets). The first group (worksheet) is titled "Lead Lab," the second is titled "Lead Individual Case," and the third is titled "Lead Environmental Investigation." The rows in the attached Excel spreadsheet represent NEDSS variables and most columns represent NEDSS variable attributes. (Note that NEDSS Implementation Guides are documents on the PHIN web site that provides the technical and business content needed to message data to CDC). • A variable-by-variable review was performed, comparing the variables in the NEDSS message to the legacy message. To document the results of the comparison, a column (shaded in yellow) was inserted into the spreadsheet corresponding to the CDC legacy surveillance system. When there was a CDC legacy message variable that corresponded to a NEDSS variable, a "yes" was inserted into the column to denote a match. The results of the variable-by-variable comparison were shared with the relevant CDC program. And, the CDC program was asked to verify the accuracy of variable comparison and to make any necessary corrections. • The CDC program was asked to note if the NEDSS Implementation Guide message included all the variables they needed or whether there were any variables that did not need to be sent to CDC or whether there were additional variables they needed. • The CDC program was asked to review the required and optional field attributes for each NEDSS variable and, if needed, to identify changes to required or optional field designations; • Lastly, the CDC program was asked to provide a statement regarding how they reached consensus with their state partners, about which variables should be sent to CDC;

Results
The results of this assessment for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program are contained in the attached spreadsheet. Variable statistics from this review indicate overall that 65% of the NEDSS message variables represent variables previously in the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program legacy message while 35% of the variables are new NEDSS variables.


General Comments:
CDC is in the process of providing a means for adult and child lead surveillance activities to be combined, through the NEDSS initiative. The integrated system will allow state and local programs to easily access information on child and adult blood lead levels. Development of this system has involved having discussions with state and local program staff to advise CDC about what they need to improve their ability to track blood levels. The new fields included in NEDSS were developed during these discussions with state and local program staff. One important change in requested fields is an increased emphasis on environmental lead sources. To achieve the national goal, it is critical to identify all possible sources of lead in children's environments and to reduce or remove those sources. For more than a decade, CDC has stated that our goal should be to identify sources and remove them rather than focus on finding children who have already been exposed and who may have suffered irreversible harm. CDC's new emphasis is monitoring environmental hazards and collecting the environmental fields will allow us to do this. While child's name and address are not variables included in the attached spreadsheet, these are variables CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch (LPPB) is interested in receiving in the future, as per discussions held with local and state surveillance staff, and as approved in OMB NO. 0920-0337. Addresses submitted to CDC can be unduplicated to enable CDC to assess whether certain properties are never remediated and continue to poison successive families. It is also important to be sure that we are not counting a child more than once. CDC has found that the child identification numbers were not unique because there were many children whose names were slightly misspelled but the state or local program gave them a different identification number. LPPB only plans to request these data as needed or requested from individual state programs. The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch indicated there were no changes needed to the required and optional field designations for the NEDSS variables.
Comments from State representative:

Name:
Agency:
Email:








Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists ©2006