Scan of CDC Legal Epidemiology Articles, 2011-2015

Abstract

Law is a significant factor in public health, and an important tool government can use for protecting and promoting well-being. Legal risks and interventions can only be properly understood through epidemiological and evaluation research. “Legal epidemiology,” the scientific study of law as a factor in the cause, distribution, and prevention of disease in a population, is funded and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the level of work and its distribution across the agency has not been assessed.

The EndNote library maintained for Science Clips (publications by CDC authors) was searched by CDC librarians for journal articles published by CDC staff from January 2011 to May 2015. A team at the Public Health Law Research program reviewed and coded the abstracts to produce data on key features of the articles. The Public Health Law Research program identified 225 articles in the realm of legal epidemiology, comprised of 158 scientific evaluations and 67 commentaries or other forms of non-empirical legal scholarship.

Most of the scientific studies concerned the use and impact of law as a deliberate tool of intervention. Only 13 of the empirical studies addressed the legal infrastructure of public health (powers, duties and organization of health agencies) and, despite the recognized importance of structural factors on population health, only three scientific studies addressed the incidental or unintended effects of non-health laws.

CDC scientific legal studies encompassed policy making, implementation, and impact. Literature reviews and studies scientifically mapping the characteristics and geographic distribution of law made up a quarter of all the empirical publications. Studies addressed a wide range of laws at the international, national, state, local and organizational levels. The scan did not assess the quality or rigor of the research, but did observe that only a minority of the legal epidemiology included a legally-trained co-author.

CDC’s scientific legal work was published in a total of 83 different journals. The three most frequent publishers were Preventing Chronic Disease (14 publications), Journal of Public Health Management Practice (10 publications) and MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (9 publications).

CDC researchers make a substantial contribution to the emerging field of legal epidemiology, in both scientific research and commentary on law and its applications in public health. Results of the scan can be used to identify opportunities for the agency to better support research, professional development, networking and publication in this emerging field.

Keywords: public health law research, policy surveillance, evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Public Health Law Program