What is a limitation of reportable disease statistics?

• A. They overrepresent the entire population.
• B. They provide complete coverage.
• C. They are not useful for tracking outbreaks.
• D. Incompleteness of population coverage and physician failure to fill out reporting forms.

Answer: (D)

Reportable disease statistics depend on cases actually being diagnosed and reported, but many cases never make it into the system. People may not seek care, diagnoses may be missed, or physicians and laboratories may fail to complete or submit the required reporting forms. Reporting rules and completeness vary by place and over time, so the data don’t capture every case in the population. This incomplete population coverage leads to undercounting true incidence, which is the main limitation of these statistics. Nonetheless, they remain valuable for detecting outbreaks and monitoring trends when interpreted with the understanding of their gaps.