Demography in public health intelligence

Demography is the scientific study of human population. For the last few decades, demographic models and methods have been frequently used to analyse or measure the births, deaths and migration within human populations. Public health practitioners and public health analysts regularly require information about health demography, which deals with the contents and methods of demography within the context of health and healthcare. In other words, health demography deals with the demographic attributes that may infl uence or concern health status and health behaviour, as well as the health-related phenomena which infl uence the demographic attributes of the population (Pol and Thomas 2013). Following an overview of health demography, this chapter will discuss the nature and extent of public health problems within the context of present and future patterns of demographic change. This chapter will also highlight some applications, concepts and methods related to health. After reading this chapter you should be able to: • Define the concept and meaning of populations • Discuss the nature and extent of public health problems within the context of present and future patterns of demographic change • Examine sources of population data and their strengths and weaknesses.