The world health organization STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease risk-factor surveillance: Methods, challenges, and opportunities

L. Riley, R. Guthold, M. Cowan, S. Savin, L. Bhatti, T. Armstrong and R. Bonita

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 1, 74-78

Abstract: Objectives.Wesought to outline the framework andmethods used by theWorldHealth Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease (NCD) surveillance (STEPS), describe the development and current status, and discuss strengths, limitations, and future directions of STEPS surveillance. Methods. STEPS is a WHO-developed, standardized but flexible framework for countries to monitor the main NCD risk factors through questionnaire assessment and physical and biochemical measurements. It is coordinated by national authorities of the implementing country. The STEPS surveys are generally household-based and intervieweradministered, with scientifically selected samples of around 5000 participants. Results. To date, 122 countries across all 6 WHO regions have completed data collection for STEPS or STEPS-aligned surveys. Conclusions. STEPS data are being used to inform NCD policies and track risk-factor trends. Future priorities include strengthening these linkages fromdata to action onNCDs at the country level, and continuing to develop STEPS' capacities to enable a regular and continuous cycle of risk-factor surveillance worldwide.

Keywords: chronic disease; cluster analysis; global health; health care planning; health survey; human; organization and management; procedures; risk factor; statistical analysis; statistics and numerical data; world health organization, Chronic Disease; Cluster Analysis; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Global Health; Health Plan Implementation; Humans; Population Surveillance; Risk Factors; Sampling Studies; World Health Organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302962_4

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302962

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