An evaluation of congenital malformations surveillance in New York State: An application of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems

Established in 1982, the New York State Congenital Malformations Registry (NYCMR) is one of the largest statewide, population-based birth defects registries in the nation.In this article, we evaluate the surveillance of congenital malformations in New York State using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems.In addition to the evaluation of selected qualitative and quantitative system attributes, we assess the public health significance and usefulness of the surveillance system and how well it is meeting its stated objectives.