Uses of routine data sets in the evaluation of health promotion interventions: opportunities and limitations

Practitioners are under constant pressure to evaluate their work. In the current environment, health professionals frequently have limited time and financial resources, and opportunities for using existing data sets must be exploited. Routinely collected data provide a potentially useful resource for use in this context. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential uses of routinely collected data in the evaluation of health promotion interventions. Opportunities for and limitations of routine data are discussed, drawing on examples primarily from the field of sexual health, to demonstrate principles which are also relevant in other areas of health care.