Health indicators are quantifiable characteristics of a population which researchers use as supporting evidence for describing the health of a population. Typically, researchers will use a survey methodology to gather information about a population sample, use statistics in an attempt to generalize the information collected to the entire population, and then use the statistical analysis to make a statement about the health of the population.^[1] Health indicators are often used by governments to guide health care policy or to make goals for improving population health.^[1]

A health indicator which will be used internationally to describe global health should have the following characteristics:

1. It should be defined in such a way that it can be measured uniformly internationally.^[2]
2. It must have statistical validity.^[2]
3. The indicator must be data which can feasibly be collected in a reasonable amount of time.^[2][3]
4. The analysis of the data must result in a recommendation on which people can make changes to improve health^[2]

*This is not a comprehensive list of health indicators.

• Life expectancy at birth^[4]
  • Number of years a newborn is expected to live based on current mortality trends.^[5]
• Infant mortality rate^[4]
  • Number of infant deaths (children under 1 year) per 1,000 live births in a year.^[5]
• Neonatal mortality rate^[4]
  • Number of newborn deaths (children under 28 days) per 1,000 births in a year.^[5]
• Maternal mortality ratio^[6]
  • Number of women who die due to pregnancy or birth complications per 100,000 births in a year.^[5]
• Mortality from cardiovascular diseases^[6]
• Cancer incidence^[6]
• Diabetes incidence^[6]
• Depression incidence^[6]
• Disability adjusted life years (DALY)
  • A measurement of premature death or lower quality of life due to disability.^[5]
• Activities of daily living (ADL)
  • A measurement of ability to self-sustain based on ability to perform daily activities such as dressing, feeding, and grooming.^[7]

• Alcohol consumption^[4]
• Smoking in adults^[4]
• Physical exercise habits^[4]
• Condom use^[6]
• Obesity rate^[6]
• Asthma rate^[6]
• High blood pressure rate^[6]
• Air pollution levels^[6]
• Exclusive breastfeeding rate^[6]
  • Number of mothers who only feed their infants breast milk for the first 6 months of life per a unit of measurement.^[5]
• Child stunting rate^[6]
  • Number of children who have a low height for their age (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement.^[5]
• Child wasting rate^[6]
  • Number of children who have a low weight for their height (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement.^[5]

• Healthcare coverage^[4]
  • Number of people with some type of health care coverage/insurance per unit of measurement.^[4]
• Hospital beds per capita^[4]
• Doctors per capita^[4]
• Nurses per capita^[4]
• Hospital readmission rates^[6]
• Health expenditure as percentage of GDP^[6]
  • Percentage of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) used toward healthcare.^[6]
• People with HIV aware of their status^[6]
• Breast cancer screening rate^[6]
• Birth registration rate^[6]
  • Number of people with a government- verified birth certificate per unit of measurement.^[6]
• Death registration rate^[6]
  • Number of people with a government- verified death certificate per unit of measurement.^[6]

Health indicators are commonly used to make large-scale or community health-related decisions.^[8] By describing the current health of a population, the areas that need improvement become evident, and policy-makers and health professionals can work to fill these gaps.^[8][3] Once interventions are put in place to try to improve the health of a population, health indicators can then be used to evaluate the success of the intervention.^[3]

Additionally, health indicators can highlight health disparities in a population.^[3] Differences in health indicators among genders, races, ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, and other groups can be used to guide policy and interventions that will bring health equity in the future.^[3]

Health indicators are used by many institutions, including international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO).^[9][10] They are also used by smaller-scale community health organizations, hospitals, and other medical and public health organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH), The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), and Global Alliance for Africa.^[10][11]

• World Health Statistics 2012 Indicator compendium created by the World Health Organization
• World Health Statistics 2012 Global Health Indicators
• Health Indicators
• list of health indicators created by the European Commission
• HealthyPeople.gov created by the United States Department of Health and Human Services
• Community Health Status Indicators Archived 2013-03-18 at the Wayback Machine, a project of the Centers for Disease Control
• Canada, a project of Statistics Canada
• HealthIndicators.gov, a database of US health indicators