Epi Info

Last updated
Epi Info
Developer(s) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stable release
7.2.5 / November 23, 2021;2 years ago (2021-11-23)
Repository
Written in Microsoft Visual C# 4.0
Operating system Windows
Android
iOS
Type Statistical software, epidemiology
License Apache License 2.0 [1]
Website www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/

Epi Info is statistical software for epidemiology developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia (US).

Contents

Epi Info has been in existence for over 20 years and is currently available for Microsoft Windows, Android and iOS, along with a web and cloud version. The program allows for electronic survey creation, data entry, and analysis. Within the analysis module, analytic routines include t-tests, ANOVA, nonparametric statistics, cross tabulations and stratification with estimates of odds ratios, risk ratios, and risk differences, logistic regression (conditional and unconditional), survival analysis (Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard), and analysis of complex survey data. The software is an open-source project with limited support.

An analysis conducted in 2003 documented over 1,000,000 downloads of Epi Info from 180 countries. [2]

History

Epi Info has been in development for over 20 years. The first version, Epi Info 1, was originally developed by Jeff Dean while he was in high school. [3] [4] It was an MS-DOS batch file on 5.25" floppy disks and released in 1985. [5] MS-DOS continued to be the only supported operating system until the release of Epi Info 2000, which was written in Microsoft's Visual Basic and became the first Windows-compatible version. The last MS-DOS version was Epi Info 6.04d released in January 2001.

Epi Info 2000 changed the way data was stored by adopting the Microsoft Access database format, rather than continuing to use the plain-text file format from the MS-DOS versions. Following the release of Epi Info 2000 was Epi Info 2002, then Epi Info version 3.0, and finally the open-source Epi Info 7. Epi Info 7 was made open source on November 13, 2008, when its source code was uploaded to Codeplex for the first time. The 7 series is the presently maintained Epi Info product line. Note that Epi Info 3 for Windows is different from Epi Info 3 for MS-DOS even though they share the same version number.

After Microsoft shut down Codeplex in December 2017, the repository of Epi Info migrated to GitHub.

Features

From a user's perspective, the most important functions of Epi Info are the ability to rapidly develop a questionnaire, customize the data entry process, quickly enter data into that questionnaire, and then analyze the data. For epidemiological uses, such as outbreak investigations, being able to rapidly create an electronic data entry screen and then do immediate analysis on the collected data can save considerable amounts of time versus using paper surveys.

Epi Info uses three distinct modules to accomplish these tasks: Form Designer, Enter, and Analysis. Other modules include the Dashboard module, a mapping module, and various utilities such as StatCalc.

Electronic questionnaires can also be created in the Form Designer module. Individual questions can be placed anywhere on a page and each form may contain multiple pages. The user is given a high degree of control over the form's appearance and function. The user defines both the question's prompt and the format of the data that is to be collected. Data types include numbers, text strings, dates, times, and Boolean. Users can also create drop-down lists, code tables, and comment legal fields. One of the more powerful features of Form Designer is the ability to program intelligence into a form through a feature called "check code". Check code allows for certain events to occur depending on what action a data entry person has taken. For example, if the data entry person types "Male" into a question on gender, any questions relating to pregnancy might then be hidden or disabled. Skip patterns, message boxes, and math operations are also available. Relational database modeling is supported, as users may link their form to any number of other forms in their database.

The "Classic Analysis" module is where users analyze their data. Import and export functions exist that allow for data to be converted between plain-text, CSV, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and other formats. Many advanced statistical routines are provided, such as t-tests, ANOVA, nonparametric statistics, cross tabulations and stratification with estimates of odds ratios, risk ratios, and risk differences, logistic regression (conditional and unconditional), survival analysis (Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard), and analysis of complex survey data.

The "Visual Dashboard" module is a lighter-weight Analysis component that is designed to be easy to use, but does not contain the full set of data management features that the "Classic Analysis" module does.

Using the Map module, data can be displayed either by geographic reference or by GPS coordinates.

Older versions of Epi Info contained a Report module and a Menu module. The Report module allowed the user to edit and format the raw output from other Epi Info modules into presentable documents. The menu module allowed for the editing and re-arranging of the basic Epi Info menu structure. This module was powerful enough that several applications have been built off of it (in versions of Epi Info prior to version 7), including the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS) for Epi Info 6. Unlike the other modules, the menu module does not have a design-mode user interface, but instead resides in a .mnu file whose scripts must be edited manually. In Epi Info 7, the Visual Dashboard assumes some of the basic functions of the report module.

Epi Info 7 includes a number of nutritional anthropometric functions that can assist in recording and evaluating measurements of length, stature, weight, head circumference, and arm circumference for children and adolescents. They can be used to calculate percentiles and number of standard deviations from the mean (Z-scores) using the CDC/WHO 1978 growth reference, CDC 2000 growth reference, the WHO Child Growth Reference, or the WHO Reference 2007. It replaces the NutStat and EpiNut modules found in prior versions of Epi Info.

Epi Info in research

Epi Info is used for analysis in medical research, and for data entry. Examples of its use for research include a study of eye conditions, [6] a study of healthcare infections [7] and a study of psychiatric morbidity. [8] Examples of papers that used Epi Info for data entry include a study on nutrition [9] and an epidemiological survey about echinococcosis. [10]

Reviews of Epi Info

Epi Info is very briefly described in a review of software that might be used for research about cancer trend analysis. [11] Another report indicated that Epi Info was among the most widely used tools during outbreaks. [12] Another study also reported that Epi Info was among the tools used to collect data during pandemics. [13] One study compared the statistical results from various free to use statistical software and found that Epi Info gave the same results as did SAS. [14]

Open Epi

OPenEpi is an online version of the software and has inbuilt statistical calculators. For more information, see the article OpenEpi.

Future developments

Version 7 is in continuing development as an open source project. Web-based data entry, web-based analysis, and mobile data collection tools are currently available and will see continued improvement in 2014 and beyond.

Release history

SeriesVersionOperating System SupportSupport statusRelease dateSignificant changes
Epi Info for DOS1 MS-DOS Red x.svg1 Sep 1985
2MS-DOSRed x.svg20 Aug 1986
3MS-DOSRed x.svg1988
4.1MS-DOSRed x.svg15 Nov 1988
5.01MS-DOSRed x.svgOct 1990Allowed European date formats and non-English characters in data fields. [15]
6.0MS-DOSRed x.svg1992Added programmable menu system
6.02MS-DOSRed x.svgOct 1994
6.04cMS-DOSRed x.svg1998Year 2000 compatibility upgrade
6.04dMS-DOSGreen check.svgJan 2001
Epi Info 20002000 1.1.2 Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000 Red x.svg2 Nov 2001First Windows-compatible version of Epi Info.
2002 R2Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg30 Jan 2003
Epi Info 33.0Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svgn/a
3.01Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg3 Nov 2003
3.2Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg4 Feb 2004
3.2.2Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg14 Apr 2004
3.3 Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg5 Oct 2004Windows 95 no longer supported, case-based mapping functionality added to the Analysis MAP command. [16]
3.3.2Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg9 Feb 2005
3.4Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg30 Apr 2007Ability to use standard ISO date formats, disallowed multiple instances of the Analysis module, added ability to run reports from Analysis, and CDC flags added to the Nutrition module. [16]
3.4.1Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg9 Jul 2007Added a right-to-left language controller in Analysis [16]
3.4.2Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg20 Sep 2007
3.4.3Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XPRed x.svg17 Oct 2007
3.5Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP SP3Red x.svg9 Jun 2008Added feature to use standardized vocabularies. [16] First version to require Service Pack 3 if running Epi Info on a computer with Windows XP. [16]
3.5.1Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP SP3, Vista Green check.svg13 Aug 2008First version compatible with Windows Vista. This version also fixed compatibility for languages that are read right-to-left. [16]
3.5.2Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP SP3, Vista, 7 Green check.svg17 Dec 2010First version compatible with Windows 7. Also included a preview of the new Epi Info 7 MakeView and Enter tools.
3.5.3Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP SP3, Vista, 7Green check.svg26 Jan 2011Minor update to the Epi Info Enter tool released with 3.5.2.
3.5.4Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP SP3, Vista, 7Green check.svg10 Aug 2012Modified installation packaging.
Epi Info 77.0.5 (Alpha)Windows XP, Vista, 7, Ubuntu Red x.svg5 Jan 2009Programming language changed to Visual C# .NET; MySQL and SQL Server database support added; XML meta-data support added; Linux compatibility added; first Windows version of Epi Info to be open source.
7.0.7.0Windows XP, Vista, 7Red x.svg27 Sep 2011Upgraded framework to .NET version 3.5; Added ability to run Epi Info 7 from a flash drive without administrator rights; Added ability for Epi Info 7 forms to work with essentially unlimited number of fields; Mapping module added; Geocoding added; Visual Dashboard module added; plugin-based data driver model added; Linux and MySQL support removed; Growth charting added.
7.0.8.0Windows XP, Vista, 7Green check.svg28 Oct 2011Release build. Added ability to install Epi Info 7 using a traditional setup file; Added new check code commands; Added ability to calculate z-scores for the WHO Child Growth Standards and WHO Reference 2007.
7.1.0.6Windows XP, Vista, 7Green check.svg9 Aug 2012Major updates to Dashboard module; Added web-based data entry capability; Added features to allow compatibility with the Epi Info for Android app.
7.1.4.0Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Green check.svg11 Jul 2014Increased precision for some statistical results and other improvements to Analysis. Added ability to decrypt and import data collected on iOS devices and other improvements to Import/Export. Included other minor updates to Form Designer, Enter, and Dashboard.
7.1.5.0Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8Green check.svg19 Mar 2015Added SQRT, POISSONLCL, and POISSONUCL functions to Analysis. Fixed regional number formatting issues in Enter. Added small cell size and sparse data warnings to 2x2 and MxN analyses. Included various changes to support the VHF application and to support the Android Companion. Included other minor updates to Form Designer, Enter, Analysis, and Dashboard.
7.2.0.1Requires Microsoft Windows XP or higher with Microsoft .NET 4.0.27 Jun 2016
7.2.6.0Requires Microsoft Windows 7 or higher with Microsoft .NET 4.8Green check.svg25 Oct 2023
SeriesVersionOperating System SupportSupport statusRelease dateSignificant changes

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Epi-Info-Community-Edition/license.md". Github. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "CDC Epi Info - About Epi Info". CDC. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  3. ↑ Somers, James (10 December 2018). "The Friendship That Made Google Huge". The New Yorker. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Oremus, Will (23 January 2013). "The Optimizer How Google's Jeff Dean became the Chuck Norris of the Internet". Slate. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "CDC Epi Info - Museam Version 1". CDC. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  6. ↑ Kumar, Javant (2021). "Clinical characteristics of morning glory disc anomaly in South India". Taiwan J Ophthalmol. 11 (1): 57–63. doi: 10.4103/tjo.tjo_52_20 . PMC   7971437 . PMID   33767956.
  7. ↑ Johansson, Ida (2020). "Healthcare-associated infections in Stockholm County Council 2008-2018". Läkartidningen. 117. PMID   32293019.
  8. ↑ Kuranga, Amudalat (2021). "Psychiatric morbidity amongst adolescents in a Nigerian juvenile correctional facility". S Afr J Psychiatr. 27: 1590. doi:10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1590. PMC   8424729 . PMID   34522436.
  9. ↑ Teferi, Haimanot (2021). "Magnitude and Associated Factors of Undernutrition Among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Ethiopian Orphanage Centres". Pediatric Health Med Ther. 12: 141–150. doi: 10.2147/PHMT.S289809 . PMC   7989956 . PMID   33776509.
  10. ↑ Li, Bin (2019). "Epidemiological survey of echinococcosis in Tibet Autonomous Region of China". Infect Dis Poverty. 8 (1): 29. doi: 10.1186/s40249-019-0537-5 . PMC   6487032 . PMID   31030673.
  11. ↑ Xu, Jie (2020). "Statistics and pitfalls of trend analysis in cancer research: a review focused on statistical packages". J Cancer. 11 (10): 2957–2961. doi:10.7150/jca.43521. PMC   7086268 . PMID   32226510.
  12. ↑ Keating, Patrick (2021). "Electronic data collection, management and analysis tools used for outbreak response in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and stakeholder survey". BMC Public Health. 21 (1): 1741. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11790-w . PMC   8464108 . PMID   34560871.
  13. ↑ Silenou, Bernard (2021). "Availability and Suitability of Digital Health Tools in Africa for Pandemic Control: Scoping Review and Cluster Analysis". JMIR Public Health Surveill. 7 (12): e30106. doi: 10.2196/30106 . PMC   8738990 . PMID   34941551.
  14. ↑ Shackman, Gene (10 May 2022). "Free To Use Statistical Software: Comparing Statistical Analyses". SSRN. SSRN   4105959 . Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "CDC Epi Info - Museam Version 5". CDC. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "EPI INFO VERSION 3.5.1 READ ME FILE". CDC. Archived from the original on 2009-07-04. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
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