Descriptive Epi Flashcards
Descriptive studies…
- Identify health problems
- Characterize amount and distribution of disease
- Evaluate trends
- Provide basis for planning, provision, evaluation of services
- Identify problems for analytic studies (hypotheses creation)
while analytic studies…
Follow descriptive studies
Identify cause of the health problem
What are the three approaches to descriptive epidemiology?
-Case reports
Clinical observations of unusual cases of disease
-Case series
Summary of characteristics of consecutive listing of patients from one or more major clinical study
-Cross-sectional studies
Surveys to estimate prevalence
Period versus cohort for health-related factors associated with age
Period – consequences of influences that vary through time
Cohort – consequences of being born at different times
Ex: period of the great depression: 1929-____, having lived during that period of time might open you up to other risks that people who didn’t live during that time might not have, were you alive during this time
Cohort: people who are eligible to be drafted for Vietnam bc they were born in a certain time, there is something specific that contributes to,
Considerations when studying health-related factors associated with age
-Validity of diagnoses can vary with age
Classification errors; exact cause of death inaccurate in multi-morbidity
-Multimodality of trends
Peaks and declines in disease frequency at various ages
-Latency effects
Reflect long latency period between environmental exposures and subsequent disease
Older individuals have had greater opportunity for exposure
Protective and selective hypothesis when it comes to marriage
- Protective hypothesis: marriage provides an environment conducive to health
- Selective hypothesis: people who marry are healthier than people who never marry
What is hispanic paradox
tend to live in low SES but have better health
Define acculturation
a process of psychosocial and cultural change that occurs while adapting to a new culture/society
Define nativity
place of birth
How can migration influence health of migrant
Healthy migrant effect: healthier people are more likely to make journey to new culture/society
Salmon hypothesis: older sicker immigrants leave to home country so not counted as deaths/sick in host country
Low SES is consistently related to excess…
mortality and disability rates
Define causation
Low SES causes illness
Define drift/selection
People with adverse health move to lower-income areas
Define case clustering
Unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space
Define spatial clustering:
concentration of disease in a specific geographic area, e.g., Hodgkin’s disease
Define cyclic fluctuations
-Periodic changes in frequency of diseases and health conditions over time (months, years)
Ex: Periodic changes in frequency of diseases and health conditions over time (months, years)
-Related to changes in lifecycle of hosts, seasonal climatic changes, virulence of infectious agent, cultural shifts, etc.
Define point source epidemic
Outbreak due to exposure of group of persons to a noxious influence common to all
-Response of group of people circumscribed in place and time to a common source of infection, contamination, or other etiologic factor they were exposed to almost simultaneously
Examples: foodborne illness; responses to toxic substances; infectious diseases
Define secular time trends
- Gradual changes in frequency of disease over long time periods
- May reflect impact of public health programs, dietary improvements, better treatment, or unknown factors
Define temporal clustering
Unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in time
Temporal clustering ex: post-vaccination reactions, postpartum depression
