Ch.5 disease measures

Question 1

Define descriptive epidemiology

Answer 1

-summarized conditions based on person, place and time by analyzing disease paterns

Question 2

What questions does descriptive epidemiology aim to answer? (2)

Answer 2

which are the main health problems?

which are the most affected groups of the population?

Question 3

What is the goal of descriptive epidemiology? (3)

Answer 3

• to understand the populations health status
• make hypotheses about disease causes
• inform program planning and evaluation

Question 4

How does descriptive epidemiology measure its goals? (3)

Answer 4

• Frequency measures of an event: (ratio, proportions, rates)
• morbidity measures
• mortality measures

Question 5

Define the frequency measure?

Answer 5

• main epidemiologic measure

- describes how many events of interest (ex. disease/death) occur in the population under study

Question 6

What are the 2 frequency measures?

Answer 6

• absolute (in the world, a country, something “vague”)

- relative (related to a number of people)

Question 7

Define the odds ratio

Answer 7

compares the probability of
an event/disease of those exposed to the probability of
event/disease of those unexposed

Question 8

Define rate

Answer 8

measures the occurrence of an event in a population over time

-describes how fast something is happening (ex. disease occurs in a population)

Question 9

Whats the difference between rate and proportion

Answer 9

rate has a time dimension

Question 10

What are the 2 mobidity measures?

Answer 10

• incidence

- prevalence

Question 11

define morbidity

Answer 11

any departure, subjective or
objective, from a state of physiological or physiological well-being.

It is related with disease, injury and disability

Question 12

define incidence

Answer 12

rate of new cases of a disease or condition in a

population during a period of time

Question 13

define prevalence

Answer 13

proportion of the population that is already

affected in a specific moment

Question 14

How do you measure incidence?

Answer 14

start with a group of people who are currently free of the
disease of interest but who are ‘at risk’ of developing it (e.g. cohort or trial). We then follow them over time to see who
actually develops the disease.

Question 15

What are the two types of measures of incidence

Answer 15

• cumulative incidence

- incidence rate (incidence density)

Question 16

Define cumulative incidence

Answer 16

• representing estimated risk of contracting the disease over a period of time
• new cases of a disease compared to the total population at risk at the beginning of the study