Basic Concepts in Epidemiology Flashcards
4 stages in the natural history of disease
1 Susceptibility
2 Pre-symptomatic
3 Clinical disease
4 Disability or recovery
Other term for pre-symptomatic stage
Stage of subclinical disease
What is environment?
Environment is the aggregate of all external conditions and influence affecting the life and development of an organism, human behavior, and society.
What are the different biologic aspects?
1 Biologic models
2 Routes of transmission
3 Incubation or induction period
4 Spectrum and variation in host response
What features of agents determine the balance of health and disease?
Nature
Characteristics
What is the other term for biologic model?
Ecologic model
What makes up the outer portion of the wheel model of man-environment interactions?
Biological Environment
Social Environment
Physical Environment
Code used which permits easy storage, retrieval, and analysis of data
Alphanumeric
What is descriptive epidemiology?
It studies the characteristics of groups and of individuals.
It determines whether or not an association between an exposure and outcome exists.
Two broad processes involved in epidemiologic reasoning
Descriptive epidemiology
Analytic epidemiology
What is analytic epidemiology?
It determines if the association that exists between an exposure and a disease is causal.
What is human ecology?
It is the knowledge of the relationships between man and the innumerable factors of his environment.
What is the study of the relationship of organisms to each other and to all other aspects of the environment?
Ecology
3 Environmental Factors
1 Biological environment
2 Social environment
3 Physical environment
What determines the development of a disease?
Interaction of host factors and environmental factors
Level of prevention of chronic diseases
Secondary prevention
Applications of ecologic concepts in the control of disease
Awareness due to the recognition of the multifactorial nature of disease
Full knowledge of etiologic mechanisms is not necessary
What is the stage of clinical disease?
It is the stage in which changes in the organs have occurred sufficiently to show signs and symptoms if the disease.
How do you measure strength of association between an exposure and a disease?
1 relative risks
2 odds ratios
3 risk differences
What is the scientific expression of biological wisdom?
Human ecology
What are the factors that affect the development of disease?
Host/Intrinsic factors
Environmental/Extrinsic factors
What is the significance of the biologic models in epidemiology?
The models allow intervention (and formulation of health policies to prevent the occurrence or progression of disease).
Functioning and disability associated with health conditions
ICF
What is the purpose of ICD?
It allows the systematic recording, analysis, interpretation, and comparison of mortality and morbidity data collected in different countries or areas at different times.
Features of human host that affect the balance of health and disease
Age Race Sex Habits Customs Genetic factors Personality Defense mechanism
It is the course of disease over time from onset to resolution, unaffected by treatment.
Natural history
It is the imaginary dividing line above which disease manifests itself by signs and symptoms.
Clinical horizon
Public policies aimed at reducing the underlying reasons for the development of hazards
Primordial prevention
What are the purposes of classifying diseases?
Better management of cases
Epidemiologic studies
Evaluation of intervention
Internal comparisons
All those diseases, morbid conditions or injuries which either resulted in or contributed to death and the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced any such injuries.
Cause of Death
It depends upon the use to be made of the statistics to be compiled.
Choice of axis
Aims of the two strategies of primary prevention
Population strategy - to reduce the average risk of the population
High-risk individual - to protect susceptible persons
Four host factors
1 Genetic make-up
2 Results of person’s past environmental exposures
3 Personality
4 Social class membership
It is the stage in which pathologic changes have started to occur
Stage of pre-symptomatic disease
Two strategies of primary prevention
Population strategy
High-risk individual strategy
What are risk factors?
Factors whose presence is associated with an increased probability that disease will develop later
What is “underlying cause of death”?
1 the disease or injury which initiated the trend of morbid events leading directly to death
2 the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury
Examples of disability limitation
Adequate treatment to arrest the disease process and to prevent further complications and sequelae
Provision of facilities to limit disability and to prevent death
Examples of rehabilitation
Provision of hospital and community facilities for retraining and education for maximum use of remaining capacities
Education of the public and industry to utilize the rehabilitated
As full employment as possible
Selective placement
Work therapy in hospitals
Use of sheltered colony
Stage in which the disease has not yet developed
Stage of susceptibility
It refers to early detection and prompt treatment of disease.
Secondary prevention
It consists of limitation of disability and rehabilitation where disease has already occurred and left residual damage.
Tertiary prevention
Health conditions
ICD-10
It provides a framework to code a wide range of information about health
International classification
It is any temporary or long-term reduction of a person’s activity as a result of an acute or chronic condition.
Disability
Two major categories of primary level of disease prevention
General health promotion
Specific protection
Energy conservation and use of clean energy resources
Primordial prevention
It denotes an action taken to prevent the development of w disease in a person who is well and does not have the disease in question.
Primary prevention
Headings used to classify data
Diagnosis
Reason for admission
Reason for consultation
Conditions treated
Steps in the epidemiologic study cycle
1 Descriptive studies (data aggregation and analysis)
2 Model building and formulation of hypothesis
3 Analytic studies to test hypothesis
4 Analysis of results may suggest further descriptive studies or new hypotheses
What level of prevention does early treatment of persons with infectious diseases provide at the community level?
Secondary - infected individuals
Primary - potential contacts
Bases of classification of disease
Symptoms
Manifestations
Etiology
It is important for the development of rational prevention measures.
Etiologic classification
General health promotion vs. specific protection Health education Immunization Environmental sanitation Good standard of nutrition Protection against occupational hazards Periodic selective examinations Avoidance of allergens Protection from accidents
General health promotion Specific protection Specific protection General health promotion Specific protection General health promotion Specific protection Specific protection
