Modeling the Effects of Epidemics on Routinely Collected Data

The use of routinely collected data, such as absenteeism, to provide an early warning of an epidemic will depend on better understanding of the effects of epidemics on such data. We reviewed studies in behavioral medicine and health psychology in order to build a model relating known factors related to human health information and treatment seeking behavior and effects on routinely collected data. This review and modeling effort may be useful to researchers in early detection, simulation, and response policy analysis.