Descriptive Epidemiology Flashcards
Purpose of Descriptive Epidemiology is to
To characterize the amount and distribution of disease within a population & identify health problems and patterns of disease
Descriptive studies generally precede
analytic studies designed to
investigate determinants of disease & generate research hypotheses
The most fundamental factor to consider when describing disease occurrence
Age
The incidence of most chronic diseases
increases with age
The incidence of many infectious diseases is highest
in childhood
What is biological and non-biological factors related to gender may impact disease risk
Gender
In all developed countries, life expectancy is higher in
Females than males
Why is life expectancy is higher in females
due to lower heart disease mortality
many chronic diseases occur more frequently in
Women
What is considered difficult to define, and is used to identify which characteristics
may relate to disease occurrence
Race/ethnicity
What type of variation exists in rates
of disease occurrence across racial and ethnic groups
- Genetics
- Socioeconomic status
- Environmental exposures
- Access to health care
- Lifestyle factor
Which racial and ethnic group displayed higher cases of gonorrhea in 2018-2022
Black/ African American
Despite its unreliability, SES
is consistently associated with mortality
in a gradient fashion.
What variables are use to measure social class
Occupation
Education
Area of residence
Income
Lifestyle
Investigation by place includes:
Across countries (international)
Within country variation
Urban/rural differences
Localized areas
Some differences in disease occurrence by place may be attributed to
- Climate
- Cultural factors
- Diet
- Environmental pollution
- Carcinogenic exposure (e.g., radon)
- Race/ethnicity
- Physical activity
- Housing conditions (e.g., lead paint)
- Crowding
Since disease does not occur at random How does disease frequency change over time
The occurrence of health-related events can vary by:
- Secular trends
- Cyclic fluctuations
- Point epidemics
Secular trends
refer to gradual changes in disease occurrence over long periods of calendar time
Cyclic fluctuateons
refer to shorter-term increases and decreases in disease occurrence over a period of years, or within a year
Point epidemic
refers to increased disease occurrence among a group of people exposed almost simultaneously to an etiologic factor
(i.e., pathogen, contaminant)
Despite exposure at a common point in time, the actual time of disease onset
May vary
Descriptive epidemiology classifies
The occurrence of disease
according to the variables of person, place, and time
Descriptive epidemiologic studies aid in
generating hypotheses
that can be explored by analytic epidemiologic studies
Descriptive studies include
case reports, case studies, and cross-
sectional studies.
