Epi Info is statistical software for epidemiology developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia (US).
Epi Info Software
To check and analyse the STEPS surveillance data, the STEPS team recommends and supports using Epi Info. Epi Info is a free software package developed by the United States of America Centers for Disease Control which allows users to:
- check the survey data for outliers and inconsistent data
- conduct a descriptive analysis of survey data
- easily generate output files from the analysis.
Installation
Follow the instructions below to download and install Epi Info.
- Download Epi Info by clicking on the "Epi Info 3.5.4" link below.
- Save the file to C:\STEPS\software.
- Go to and open the folder C:\STEPS\software and click on "setup.exe".
- Click "Next" on the Welcome to Epi Info 3.5.4 screen.
- Click Next on the Destination folder screen, you should use the default C:\Epi_Info.
- Click "Next" on the selected features screen.
- Click "Next" on the ready to install screen.
- If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you should also download and install the DHTML Editing Control for Applications. It is free from Microsoft.
Background
Epi Info is a suite of public domain computer programs for public health professionals developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Epi Info is used for rapid questionnaire design, data entry and validation, data analysis including mapping and graphing, and creation of reports.
Epi Info was originally created in 1985 using Turbo Pascal. In 1998, the last version of Epi Info for DOS, version 6, was released. Epi Info for DOS is currently supported by CDC but is no longer updated. The current version, Epi Info 2002, is Windows-based software developed using Microsoft Visual Basic. Approximately 300,000 downloads of Epi Info software occurred in 2002 from approximately 130 countries. These numbers make Epi Info probably one of the most widely distributed and used public domain programs in the world. The DOS version of Epi Info was translated into 13 languages, and efforts are underway to translate the Windows version into other major languages. Versions already exist for Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic.
Future of Epi Info
The information technology environment that created the original Epi Info is now a distant memory. In recent years, the capabilities of hardware and software available to public health professionals have increased tremendously. Within these frameworks EIDT is reexamining the role of Epi Info. The question of whether Epi Info should be a lightweight and agile disease outbreak investigation tool as was originally envisioned by its creator, or a robust application development platform as it is currently being used by many persons around the world is still open to debate. What is obvious is that Epi Info cannot continue to be all things to all people and it has to find a place among other tools available to public health professionals. The challenge is to continue to provide the right kind of tool to help public health professionals perform their work. The exploration of new software development technology, such as Microsoft .NET, is a part of the evaluation and refinement process for EIDT. Epi Info needs to be a product that can continue to be relevant after 18 years, like the original Epi Info for DOS that is still in use throughout the world.
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