Results Report published for the 2008 statistics release schedule

PRESS RELEASE

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute collaborates in the development of a data collection tool for COVID-19 from hospitals

The system collects and consolidates daily data on suspected and confirmed cases

Dr. Orville M. Disdier, executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (Institute), reported that the Institute, in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Task Force Physician, the design, development and implementation of a system for the daily collection and consolidation of data on COVID-19 in hospitals was completed. Through this system, epidemiologists at each hospital can easily and quickly enter basic data on suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19.

As explained by Disdier, the data required by the system are those necessary for the so-called rapid surveillance system. The content and logistics of this rapid surveillance system were designed and approved by doctors Cynthia Pérez and Enid García, in collaboration with other members of the Task Force and the Department of Health. The variables collected by the system are the following: Gender, age, municipality of residence, date of onset of symptoms, type of exposure, if the person was admitted to the hospital, if the person is on mechanical ventilation, if the person is in intensive care, date of taking the sample, type of test, result of the test, if the person died, and date of death, if that were the case.

“Faced with the urgent need for the Department of Health to have a rapid epidemiological surveillance system in hospitals, the Institute offered full assistance to the Department of Health and the Task Force Doctor. We are very grateful that they have accepted our collaboration. In just one week, we were able to implement the system and at this time hospitals send information in a fast, complete and standardized way about COVID-19 to the Department of Health. Rapid surveillance systems are essential to combat any epidemic or pandemic,” he argued.

The data that hospitals enter into the system is consolidated every day, at approximately 12:00 noon. After consolidation, epidemiologists from the Department of Health verify the quality of the data and make any necessary edits in consultation with hospital epidemiologists. Finally, the consolidated and verified data will be used by the Department of Health to generate daily statistical reports and for other epidemiological surveillance activities. It is also expected that this will help the Department of Health to comply with Act No. 209 of August 28, 2003, which requires them to share the official data generated with the Institute, an aspect with which the Department of Health has not fully complied with until now. In fact, this law establishes that the Institute is a co-owner of all the information and statistical product that government agencies develop, and that it can add and disseminate such information as it deems appropriate. “We urge the Department of Health to comply with the law and to send these and any other data related to COVID-19 to the Institute on a daily basis and promptly so that we can provide citizens with complete, reliable statistics with quick and universal access,” emphasized Dr. Disdier.

Disdier explained that this system of data collection and consolidation did not involve the use of additional funds, since it based its structure on other tools already existing at the Institute and on free-to-use programming languages, such as Python. The Institute's work team dedicated many hours of work to this project, despite all the challenges that COVID-19 represents for everyone in Puerto Rico and the fact that they are currently working remotely from home. The quality, efficiency and effectiveness of this new system is being verified daily by Institute personnel in collaboration with doctors Pérez and García, who have demonstrated a genuine commitment to overcoming COVID-19.

To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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PRESS RELEASE

Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

729 homicides and 276 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2017

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) established at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for 2017. The report reports that, in 925 documented incidents of violent deaths, there were 1,025 victims. According to the PRVDRS, violent deaths are those that occur primarily by suicide or homicide.

The data indicate that 70.3% of the incidents were classified as single or multiple homicides, 26.3% were single incidents of suicide and 1.4% of the incidents were homicide-suicides. In 2017, six homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in 14 fatalities, of which eight were classified as homicides and six as suicides. In addition, during this period, three violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.3%) and 17 violent deaths with undetermined intent (1.7%) were documented. The report concludes that in 2017 there were a total of 729 homicides and 276 suicides in Puerto Rico.

In 2017, the crude homicide rate was 21.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, 43.8 in men (1 in 31 men) and 2.1 in women (1 in 650 women). The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. 45.5% of the 729 homicides are documented as related to drug trafficking and organized crime. The report also indicates that firearms were used in practically all homicides related to organized crime (97.9%). In Puerto Rico, according to the report, 90% of homicides are committed with firearms, more than double the global average of 41.2%. 82.1% of these weapons are pistols or revolvers. The report of Small Arms Survey In 2017, it estimated that 422,000 firearms were in legal (registered by the police) and illegal possession in Puerto Rico; that is, approximately 12 out of every 100 people owned a firearm. PRVDRS data for 2017 show that firearms continue to be the primary mechanism for homicides in both men (91.3%) and women (64.9%).

Of the 21 homicides with evidence of family violence, 18 are the result of conflicts in partner or ex-partner relationships. The majority of these victims are women (72.2%) and 17 of the 18 suspects are men (94.4%). The circumstances in these homicides relate to immediate or ongoing conflict, or to violence between partners or ex-partners (72.2%), a crisis between intimate partners (33.3%) or jealousy over a current or previous intimate partner relationship (16.7%). In 53.8% of male-female relationships, femicide occurred using a firearm and in 38.5% a sharp instrument.

As for suicides in Puerto Rico, the report highlights that the frequency is lower than that of homicides. However, as in homicides, suicides are more frequent in men (84.4%). In 2017, the crude suicide rate was 8.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, 14.7 in men (1 of 97 men) and 2.5 in women (1 of 536 women). The main mechanism was asphyxiation.

Myribel Santiago, manager of statistical projects at the Institute of Statistics and co-principal investigator of the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico, explained that the collection of this type of data involves fieldwork that takes more than 16 months from the moment the incident occurs, the data is recorded and collected, among the collaborating agencies, until the closure and disclosure of the data. “We are pleased to have completed the first annual report of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Santiago, who highlighted that the PRVDRS ranked number one in excellence in the timeliness and completeness of the 2017 data, among the 42 jurisdictions participating in the NVDRS in the United States.

“This system is a reliable, complete and unique reference source that helps describe the context of violent deaths in the victim-aggressor relationship and the magnitude, trend and characteristics of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Diego Zavala, epidemiologist and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS.

For the executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, these statistics are one of the main tools to combat the phenomenon of violence in Puerto Rico. “These data, among others, serve as a basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, demographic and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Institute of Statistics is to continue strengthening this statistical and epidemiological system to continue improving the quality of this type of data,” argued Dr. Disdier.

The PRVDRS is an epidemiological surveillance system affiliated with the Institute of Statistics and designed to obtain a complete and standardized census of violent deaths in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS began its participation in the National Violent Death Notification System (National Violent Death Reporting System, NVDRS) in September 2016 through a collaborative agreement granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity tasked with coordinating the government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and accessible quickly and universally.

The 2017 Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico is available at: Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System. To learn about the Institute of Statistics, you can access it on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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Contact:

Dr. Orville M. Disdier

787-586-4414

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