Chap 7 Flashcards
Epidemiology definitions (4)
• the study of the distribution and determinants
• of health-related states
• in specified populations, and
• the application of this study to control health problems
EPIDEMIOLOGY: DISTRIBUTION
Distribution: Occurrence of cases by time, place, and person
Example: According to a study of deaths in Country X in 2016, 1,034 cervical cancer deaths occurred among women between the ages of 45-54. Cervical cancer was caused by HPV.
Epidemiology determinants
Determinants: All the causes and risk factors for the
occurrence of a disease, including physical, biological, social, cultural, and behavioral factors
Example: According to a study of deaths in Country X in 2016, 1,034 cervical cancer deaths occurred among women between the ages of 45-54. Cervical cancer was caused by HPV.
Epidemiology heath related risks
Health-related states:
• Diagnosis of a specific disease or cause of death
- Health-related behavior (e.g., smoking, taking prenatal vitamins)
Example: According to a study of deaths in Country X in 2016, 1,034 cervical cancer deaths occurred among women between the ages of 45-54. Cervical cancer was caused by HPV.
Epidemiology specified population
Specified Population: A measurable group, defined by location, time, demographics, and other characteristics
Example: According to a study of deaths in Country X in 2016, 1,034 cervical cancer deaths occurred among A women between the ages of 45-54. Cervical cancer was caused by HPV.
Epidemiology application
Application: Analysis, conclusion, distribution, and timely use of epidemiologic information to protect the health of the population
Example: As a result of the Country X Study, free cervical cancer screening programs were implemented. They targeted women living in remote areas in hopes of finding women with cervical cancer at an earlier stage of cancer in order to prevent death.
John snow
- Interested in Cholera
- Medical doctor
- After Britain colonized India
- Miasma is the main theory for cholera outbreaks
- convinced it was spread through germs in the waste of people (sewage)
- maps out sources of water —> figured out the sample of water where the disease came from was mostly company water
What is the dominant theory for explaining cholera at John snows investigation
- Miasma theory → was the dominant explanation at the start
- Bad air causes disease
What did John Snow figure out?
- Figured out from the sample of water where the water came from (companies)
- People who got water upstream before it entered the city were less likely to get cholera, while people downstream in the town were more likely to get cholera
- Broad Street had the most outbreaks
- people in the working house had their own supply
5’W of epidemiology
Who, what, where, when (person,time, place)
5’Ws of epidemiology-person,
Person factors
- Not everyone is susceptible
- Acquired host factors → growing up with parents smoking
- Transitory host factors → what is the current stress factor - period of extreme stress
- Behaviours → Everything one does are personal factors that can influence patterns of disease
5’Ws of epidemiology - place
- Diet → patterns of food
- Cultural practices
- Methods of food storage → poor vs rich communities
- Population density → ex tuberculosis
- Exposure to pollutants → living next to polluted places and plants
5’Ws of epidemiology - time
- Diseases are cyclical and seasonal
- Have seasons and periods of how long they last
- Interactive → ex sexual assault - resources available to figure out
- What is the time of day are those cases most likely to present - early morning is usually the most likely
5’Ws of epidemiology - agent
- Nutritive agent → like Polagra
- Chemical agents
- Infectious agents
2 theories about cholera
2 theories about cholera: miasma vs. germ theory
Miasma - bad vapours in the air
Germ theory - small organism responsible
-Snow begins investigation of cholera; documenting the source of the drinking water for people dying from cholera -natural experiment referred to as his “Grand Experiment”
-1854 outbreak at the end of August (Broad Street pump story)
