Assessment of epidemiology capacity in state health departments, 2004-2009

To assess the number of epidemiologists and epidemiology capacity nationally, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists surveyed state health departments in 2004, 2006, and 2009. This article summarizes findings of the 2009 assessment and analyzes five-year (2004-2009) trends in the epidemiology workforce.

Online surveys collected information from all 50 states and the District of Columbia about the number of epidemiologists employed, their training and education, program and technologic capacity, organizational structure, and funding sources. State epidemiologists were the key informants; 1,544 epidemiologists provided individual-level information.

The number of epidemiologists in state health departments decreased approximately 12% from 2004 to 2009. Two-thirds or more states reported less than substantial (< 50% of optimum) surveillance and epidemiology capacity in five of nine program areas. Capacity has diminished since 2006 for three of four epidemiology-related Essential Services of Public Health (ESPHs). Fewer than half of all states reported using surveillance technologies such as Web-based provider reporting systems. State health departments need 68% more epidemiologists to reach optimal capacity in all program areas; smaller states (< 5 million population) have higher epidemiologist-to-population ratios than more populous states.

Epidemiology capacity in state health departments is suboptimal and has decreased, as assessed by states' ability to carry out the ESPHs, by their ability to use newer surveillance technologies, and by the number of epidemiologists employed. Federal emergency preparedness funding, which supported more than 20% of state-based epidemiologists in 2006, has decreased. The 2009 Epidemiology Capacity Assessment demonstrates the negative impact of this decrease on states' epidemiology capacity.