Table 1.

Summary of data sources used for 2014 enumeration estimates

Data source	Government level	Data collection year	Context	Data source inclusion	Data source missing data and exclusions	Data adjustments or categorizations
APHL National Laboratory Workforce Capacity Assessment11,12	State and local (laboratory workers)	2011	Organizational- and individual-level survey administered to public health, environmental, and agricultural laboratories	80 (76%) public health, environmental, and agricultural laboratories	25 laboratories	Workforce data were collected in the occupational categories of administrative or clerical personnel, information technology workers, and laboratory workers
ASTHO profile survey	State	2012	Organizational-level data on state and territorial health department’s responsibilities, structure, planning, quality-improvement activities, and full-time employee workforce	47 states	3 states did not respond to survey; additional 5 states did not report workers in occupational categories, and 1 state did not provide workforce data	Data from the 2010 ASTHO profile survey were used to address missing data13; ASTHO data were used for all occupational categories except epidemiologists (CSTE data used), laboratory workers (APHL), and PHNs (UM CEPHS PHN); a proportional reduction of 21.9% was used across all occupational categories to address duplicate counting of state workers in local units
CSTE National Epidemiology Capacity Assessment14	State and local (epidemiologists)	2010	Organizational-level data characterizing the state-level epidemiology workforce	All 50 states and District of Columbia workforce data for LHD epidemiologists	–	Only state health department data were used; NACCHO profile survey data were used to estimate LHD epidemiologists
NACCHO profile survey15	Local	2013	Organizational-level data on LHDs’ responsibilities, structure, planning, quality-improvement activities, and full-time employee workforce	2000 (79%) LHDs, including District of Columbia	532 LHDs	Community health workers, nursing aides, home health aides, licensed practical or vocational nurses, and animal control workers were included in the other/uncategorized category
OPM16	Federal	2013	Organizational-level data on USDHHS workers and USDA and EPA workers	All workers in seven occupational categories in the study case definition	The U.S Public Health Service, other noncivilian federal public health workers, and federal contractors. Also, it does not capture the roles of emergency preparedness staff, epidemiologists, or public health informatics specialists	Workers in occupational classifications that might not be specific to public health (e.g., administrative or clerical personnel) were omitted from the USDA and EPA estimates to reduce the possibility of including non–public health workers in the enumeration
UM CEPHS Public Health Nurse Workforce Survey17	State and local (public health nurses)	2012	Organizational- and individual-level data on all registered PHNs	PHNs employed or contracted by local (81%; 265/327) and state (45%; 45/50) health departments, including those in governmentoperated hospitals	62 LHDs, and 5 state health departments	Weights were used to create a national estimate for PHNs employed or contracted by LHDs; state data were not weighted

APHL, Association of Public Health Laboratories; ASTHO, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; CSTE, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists; EPA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; LHD, local health department; NACCHO, National Association of County and City Health Officials; OPM, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; PHN, public health nurse; UM CEPHS PHN, University of Michigan Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Studies Public Health Nurse Workforce Survey.