Medical surveillance definition

The term medical surveillance is vague, but commonly utilized. There is no generally accepted definition of medical surveillance. Medical surveillance involves performing an observational study of either an individual or a population and includes collection, collation, analysis, and dissemination of data. The data acquired varies, and may be on exposures, disease, injury, death, and/or disability. There are numerous examples of medical surveillance with vastly different models. For example, the United States has formed the Army Medical Surveillance Activity (AMSA). Its main functions are to analyze, interpret, and disseminate information regarding the status, trends, and determinants of the health and fitness of America s Army and to identify and evaluate obstacles to medical readiness. AMSA is the central epidemiological resource for the Army. 

For the appropriate and efficient functioning of Directive 93/42/EEC as regards regulatory advice on classification issues arising at national level, in particular on whether or not a product falls under the definition of a medical device, it is in the interest of national market surveillance and the health and safety of humans to establish a procedure for decisions on whether or not a product falls under the medical device definition. ... 

Other methods of estimating incidence exist besides routine surveillance. Retrospective review of hospital or clinic medical charts may provide an estimate of the incidence of relatively severe illness. Unfortnnately, these stndies are snbject to many of the types of bias discussed above. If case definitions with a high degree of specificity are used and clinical acumen in an area is high, incidence data from medical chart reviews may be regarded as lower estimates. 

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