chapter 1&2

Question 1

Epidemiology

Answer 1

-The study of the distribution and determinants of disease and health states in populations
-epi (around), demi (people), ology (study of)

Question 2

Two types of epidemiology

Answer 2

Descriptive and analytic

Question 3

Descriptive epidemiology

Answer 3

simply describes the occurrence of disease (what/where/when/who) in population but does not look for the reasons or causes behind disease.
-example: Stomach Cancer by Location in the US, Differences in Rates of Stomach Cancer in Japan and US

Question 4

Analytic epidemiology

Answer 4

why do certain people develop disease whereas others do not? What are the underlying causes of disease, adverse health outcomes, health disparities
-example: why do some people get sick with COVID, some die, and some do not even show symptoms

Question 5

Health/risk factors or exposures that increase (or decrease) your risk of disease

Answer 5

-Genetic (what genes did you inherit from your parents?)
-Biological (obesity, cholesterol levels, ex: blood pressure, height and sex)
-Environmental (pollution, built environment, green space, secondhand smoke ex: sidewalk, building)
-Behavioral (do you exercise? drink? smoke? talk to friends? smile at strangers? ex: vape)
-Cultural or societal (poverty, access to healthcare, crowding)

Question 6

Epidemiologic study designs

Answer 6

Observational Studies (“Traditional” epidemiology)
-Ecologic study: compares large groups of people instead of individuals for differences in things such as cancer rates
-Cross-sectional study: is collect data from many different individuals at a single point in time
-Case-control study: compares two groups of people: those with the disease or condition under study (cases) and a very similar group of people who do not have the disease or condition (controls)
-Cohort Study: compares a particular outcome (such as lung cancer) in groups of individuals who are alike in many ways but differ by a certain characteristic (for example, female nurses who smoke compared with those who do not smoke).
Experimental Studies
-Randomized controlled trial: is a study design that randomly assigns participants into an experimental group or a control group
-Community intervention: are an extension of field trials. In community trials the study group is the entire community, rather than individuals. Conceptually, the difference is whether or not the intervention is implemented separately for each individual.

Question 7

Pandemic

Answer 7

epidemic that has spread to multiple countries

Question 8

Lifetime risk

Answer 8

proportion of people who develop the disease during their entire lifetime

Question 9

Epidemic

Answer 9

refers to an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what us normally expected in a population.

Question 10

Outbreak

Answer 10

carries the same definition of epidemic, but is often used for a more limited geographic area ( ex: Measles outbreaks in California schools)

Question 11

Morbidity

Answer 11

occurrence of an ILLNESS in a population

Question 12

Mortality

Answer 12

occurrence of an DEATH in a population

Question 13

Cholera

Answer 13

is a bacterial disease causing serves diarrhea and dehydration, usually spread in water

Question 14

John Snow

Question 15

Robert Koch

Question 16

Reverend Henry Whitehead

Question 17

Variable are either (blank) or (blank)

Answer 17

nominal (qualitive; ex: race, sex, gender identity, education level, ethnicity, and food group) and numeric (quantitative)
-both nominal and numeric variables can be ordinal (the values follow a natural order) or non-ordered

Question 18

Numeric variables can be (blank) or (blank)

Answer 18

continuous (unlimited possible values, using decimal places; ex: age, blood pressure, BMI, blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels & vitamin D serum levels) and discrete (typically restricted to integers)

Question 19

Binary variables

Answer 19

have 2 values (usually “yes” or “no”; could also “0” and “1”)

Question 20

Dichotomous

Answer 20

same as binary (example: nonsmoker, smoker)

Question 21

Categorical

Answer 21

is used if the variable has 3 or more categories. The categories can be ordered (ordinal) or not.
-example: average income level in a school (low, medium, high), cancer stage (1,2,3), gender identify (male, female, nonbinary, other)

Question 22

Discrete, quantitative

Answer 22

variables are reported in integers; example: IQ, amount of money you made last year and number of words spoken to an infant in the past 24 hours

Question 23

Left (negative) and right (positive) skewed

Answer 23

-in a left skewed the curve is most in the left (mean, median and mode from the x-axis)
-in a right skewed the curve is most in the right (mode, median, mean from the x-axis)

Question 24

Scatterplot

Answer 24

show the relationship between 2 continuous variables