Health outcomes
Health outcomes that are causally related to the identified risk factors
represent the final consequences of impact pathways. They must
be unambiguously defined, since various stages of a causal chain can
be considered as outcomes, like a disease or health states and events related
to a disease. An adequate solution for clarification is the application
of International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes (see http://www.
who.int/classifications/icd/en/). The evaluation of the importance of
health outcomes should consider the strength of evidence for causality,
as well as the condition's severity (related morbidity, disability and
mortality), reversibility and frequency of its occurrence in the population.
These features determine the public health importance of the
health outcome.
The affected population has to be clearly identified with special
attention to susceptible subgroups. Considering varying susceptibility
in outcome assessmentmakes the evaluation of policy impact on health
inequalities possible