Communicable Disease Surveillance Systems in Disasters: Application of the Input, Process, Product, and Outcome...

One of the most important measures following disasters is setting up a communicable disease surveillance system (CDSS). This study aimed to develop indicators to assess the performance of CDSSs in disasters.

In this 3-phase study, firstly a qualitative study was conducted through in-depth, semistructured interviews with experts on health in disasters and emergencies, health services managers, and communicable diseases center specialists. The interviews were analyzed, and CDSS performance assessment (PA) indicators were extracted. The appropriateness of these indicators was examined through a questionnaire administered to experts and heads of communicable diseases departments of medical sciences universities. Finally, the designed indicators were weighted using the analytic hierarchy process approach and Expert Choice software.

In this study, 51 indicators were designed, of which 10 were related to the input (19.61%), 17 to the process (33.33%), 13 to the product (25.49%), and 11 to the outcome (21.57%). In weighting, the maximum score was that of input (49.1), and the scores of the process, product, and outcome were 31.4, 12.7, and 6.8, respectively.

Through 3 different phases, PA indicators for 4 phases of a chain of results were developed. The authors believe that these PA indicators can assess the system's performance and its achievements in response to disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:158-164).