Chapter 1: Epidemiology Flashcards
Epidemiology
study of distribution and determinants of health-related states within a population
Study of how disease often occurs in different groups of people and why
Endemic
expected rate of disease over time;
the disease is maintained without much variation within a region.
Epidemic
occurrence of disease in excess of the expected rate; usually presents in a large geographic span than endemics
Pandemic
worldwide epidemic
Epidemic curve
visual description (commonly histogram) of an epidemic curve is disease cases plotted against time; classic signature of an epidemic is a “spike” in time
Rates are usually described as per how many people?
per 100,000
Vital statistics are usually per how many people?
per 1,000
What is the general equation to determine rates in epidemiology?
actual cases/potential cases = numerator/denominator
What is incidence rate?
by definition
(IR) rate at which new events occur in a population
Formula for incidence rate?
(Number of new events in a specified period/number of persons “exposed to risk” of becoming new cases during this period ) x 10^n
Attack rate
by definition
cumulative incidence of infection in a group of people observed over a period of time during an epidemic, usually in relation to food-borne illness.
Attack rate formula?
number of exposed people infected with disease/ total number of exposed people
Another name for attack rate?
attack ratio
Prevalence
all persons who experience an event in a population
Prevalence formula?
Prevalence = (all cases of a disease at a given point and/or period/ total population “at risk” for being cases at a given point and/or period)/ 10^n
A case is counted in prevalence (in prevalence pot) until what events occur?
until death or recovery occur
Point prevalence
compares disease at different points in time in order to determine whether an outbreak is occurring.
Period prevalence
Also what conditions does it focus on acute or chronic?
prevalence during a specified period or span of time and focuses on chronic conditions.
Morbidity rate
rate of disease in population at risk (for both incident and prevalent cases)
Mortality rate
rate of death in a population (incident cases only)
What is crude rate?
actual measured rate in a whole population
What is specific rate?
actual measured rate for a subgroup of the population (e.g “age-specific or “sex-specific”)
Standardized rate?
adjusted to make groups equal on some factor
Another name for standardized rate?
adjusted rate
Crude mortality rate formula?
Crude mortality rate = deaths/population
Cause - specific mortality rate formula?
deaths from cause/ population
Case - fatality rate formula
deaths from cause/ number of persons with the disease and/or cause
Proportionate Mortality Rate (PMR) formula?
deaths from cause/ all deaths
Describe purpose of PMR.
how much a disease contributes to mortality rate (i.e what proportion of the mortality rate is due to that disease)
Purpose of cause-specific mortality rate?
how many people in the population are dying from that disease
Purpose of case-fatality rate?
how likely are you to die from the disease i.e fatality
The purpose for assessing the crude mortality rate?
to know the crude rate of people dying in the population
What is the goal of prevention in medicine?
reduce a person’s likelihood of becoming ill or disabled or of dying prematurely.