Health outcomes:
A change in the health status of an individual, group or population which is attributable to a planned intervention or series of interventions, regardless of whether such an intervention was intended to change health status.
Reference: new definition
Such a definition emphasizes the outcome of planned interventions (as opposed, for example, to incidental exposure to risk), and that outcomes may be for individuals, groups or whole populations. Interventions may include government policies and consequent programmes, laws and regulations, or health services and programmes, including health promotion programmes. It may also include the intended or unintended health outcomes of government policies in sectors other than health. Health outcomes will normally be assessed using health indicators. See also intermediate health outcomes, and health promotion outcomes.
