Chapter 1 - History And Scope Of Epidemiology

Question 1

Biostatistics

Answer 1

A field of statistics that is applied to living organisms

Question 2

Chronic disease

Answer 2

A long lasting illness that is difficult to eradicate

Question 3

Communicable Disease

Answer 3

An illness cause by an infectious agent that can be transmitted from one person to another

Question 4

Demography

Answer 4

The study of data (e.g., births, deaths, and socioeconomic status) related to the structure of human populations.

Question 5

Distribution

Answer 5

Differential frequency in the occurrence of disease and mortality among population groups (or among sub-groups of a population)

Question 6

Endemic

Answer 6

A disease or infectious agent that is habitually present in a community, geographic area, or population group. Often an endemic disease maintains a low but continuous incidence.

Question 7

Epidemic

Answer 7

Occurrence of a disease in excess of normal expectancy.

Question 8

Epidemiology

Answer 8

Study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease, morbidity, injuries, disability, and mortality in populations. Epidemiologic studies are applied to the control of health problems in populations.

Question 9

Genetic epidemiology

Answer 9

Field of epidemiology concerned with inherited factors that influence risk of disease

Question 10

Levels

Answer 10

Denotes the hierarchy of tasks that epidemiology studies seek to accomplish.

Question 11

Lifestyles

Answer 11

Habits, behaviors (smoking, drinking, and exercise levels), or dietary practices that influence health.

Question 12

Molecular epidemiology

Answer 12

Field of epidemiology that uses bio markets to establish exposure-disease associations. Examples of biomarkers are serum levels of micronutrients and DNA fingerprints.

Question 13

Morbidity

Answer 13

Occurrence of an illness or illnesses in a population

Question 14

Mortality

Answer 14

Occurrence of death in a population

Question 15

Natural Experiment

Answer 15

A type of research design in which the experimenter does not control the manipulation of a study factor(s). The manipulation of the study factor occurs as a result of natural phenomena or policies that impact health, an example being laws that control smoking in public places.

Question 16

Outbreak

Answer 16

A localized disease epidemic, e.g. In a town or healthcare facility

Question 17

Pandemic

Answer 17

An epidemic that spans a wide geographic area. A world-wide influenza outbreaks an example of a pandemic.

Question 18

Surveillance

Answer 18

Systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, dissemination, and consolidation of data pertaining to the occurrence of a specific disease.

Question 19

Vaccination

Answer 19

Procedure in which a vaccine (a preparation that contains a killed or weakened pathogen) is introduced into the body to invoke an immune response against a disease-causing microbe such as a virus or bacterium. Also called inoculation, immunization.