Table 2.

Climate change and health outcome indicator rating scale

Indicator criteria	Score = 0	Score = 1	Score = 2
Specificity	Indicator measures health outcome relevant to climate change; but there are other stronger influences from factors outside of climate	Indicator measures health outcome related to climate change, but there are other but less important influences from factors outside of climate	Indicator measures health outcome related to climate change, and this health outcome is mostly not vulnerable to other influencing factors aside from climate
Availability/feasibility	Data is not available within a reasonable time frame (i.e. 1 year). For modeled outcomes, the indicator is not easily calculated without specialized training	Restricted data access to local health authorities, or is not frequently available (i.e. only every few years). For modeled outcomes, specific calculation methods are available	Data accessible to local health authorities, and are frequently available at needed intervals. For modeled outcomes, data is available in modeled, completed form
Quality	Unknown quality or known major quality concerns	Known minor quality concerns	High quality
Comparability over time and place	Indicator is not comparable over time or population groups, i.e. not calculated the same way.	Indicator is comparable over time and some other population groups (i.e. has some methodological inconsistencies)	Indicator is comparable to other time periods as well as other population groups (including other provinces, countries, or international data)
Relevance to planning	Indicator is not important to the population group; for some infectious diseases, this means there are no current threats of such diseases in Canada	Indicator is important to a vulnerable portion of the population group	Indicator is important to most members of the population group