Chapter 4: Descriptive Epidemiology: Person, Place, Time

Question 1

Nativity

Answer 1

Place of origin (e.g., native-born or foreign-born) of the individual or his or her relatives.

Question 2

Acculturation

Answer 2

Modifications that individuals or groups undergo when they come into contact with another culture.

Question 3

Acculturation hypothesis

Answer 3

Proposes that as immigrants become acculturated to a host country, their health profiles tend to converge with that of the native-born population.

Question 4

Alternative hypothesis

Answer 4

A part of significance testing that signifies that the null hypothesis is false.

Question 5

Analytic study

Answer 5

A type of research design concerned with the determinants of disease and the reasons for relatively high or low frequency of disease in specific population subgroups. Analytic studies identify causes of the problem, test specific etiologic hypotheses, generate new etiologic hypotheses, and suggest mechanisms of causation; they also may include case-control studies, cohort studies, and some types of ecologic studies.

Question 6

Case clustering

Answer 6

An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time.

Question 7

Choropleth map

Answer 7

A map that represents disease rates (or other numerical data) for a group of regions by different degrees of shading.

Question 8

Common source epidemic

Answer 8

A disease outbreak caused by common exposure of a group of individuals to a disease agent.

Question 9

Continuous common source epidemic

Answer 9

An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure.

Question 10

Cyclic fluctuation

Answer 10

An increase or decrease in the frequency of a disease or health condition in a population over a period of years or within each year.

Question 11

Descriptive epidemiology

Answer 11

Epidemiologic studies that are concerned with characterizing the amount and distribution of health and disease within a population.

Question 12

Descriptive study

Answer 12

A type of study designed to portray the health characteristics of a population with respect to person, place, and time. Such studies are utilized to estimate disease frequency and time trends, and include case reports, case series, and cross-sectional surveys.

Question 13

Determinant

Answer 13

A factor or event that is capable of bringing about a change in the health status of a population.

Question 14

Healthy migrant effect

Answer 14

In studies of migration and health, a bias that results from the migration of younger, healthier persons in comparison with those who remain at home (see bias)

Question 15

Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)

Answer 15

Formerly known as standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs), geographic areas of the United States established by the Bureau of the Census to provide a distinction between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas by type of residence, industrial concentration, and population concentration.

Question 16

Point epidemic

Answer 16

Response of a group of people circumscribed in place to a common source of infection, contamination, or other etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously.

Question 17

Protective factor

Answer 17

A circumstance or substance that provides a beneficial environment and makes a positive contribution to health.

Question 18

Secular trends

Answer 18

Gradual changes in disease frequency over long time periods.

Question 19

Selective factor

Answer 19

A circumstance that results in the choice of persons for a group because of their health status or other characteristic.

Question 20

Spatial clustering

Answer 20

Concentration of cases of a disease in a particular geographic area.

Question 21

Standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs)

Answer 21

Standard areas of the United States established by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to make regional comparisons in disease rates and also to make urban/rural comparisons (see also Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

Question 22

Temporal clustering

Answer 22

Association between common exposure to an etiologic agent at the same time and the development of morbidity or mortality in a group or population.