Definitions Flashcards
A Cross Sectional study
measures a disease state in one point in time
Population/group
a group of people sharing a common feature – ethnicity, gender, disease
Ecological study
rather than studying individuals, it studies whole populations
Purposes of Epidemiology
Improve the health of the population by preventing disease.
Identifying differences in frequency – inequity
Determine the causes of the differences
Intervene to reduce difference – prevention or treatment
Disease frequency is also referred to as
disease occurrence/ risk/ rate
The definition of health/ disease by epidemiologists can be broad or
narrow
Where do epidemiologists start?
the living population
categorical data is
yes/ no
numerical data is
numbers of events
numerical data can be changed to
categorical data
P in PECOT
population is the top of the triangle, participants is the bottom = Participant population
Prevalence =>
is measuring the number of people in a disease state at one point in time
Incidence =>
is measuring the occurrences of disease over a specific time frame
Is prevalence or incidence given without a unit of time?
prevalence except the time it was measured it mentioned
When is prevalence expressed as a percentage?
when numerator is categorical
When is prevalence expressed as a mean?
when numerator is numerical
E =
exposure group
C =
comparison group
O=
outcomes
T=
time
examples of longitudinal study
cohort, RCT
cohort study aka
observational follow up study
incidence
measures occurrence of disease over time
when is it best to measure prevalence
when you want to find out IF something is happening or the thing you’re studying doesn’t have an easily identifiable starting point.