Epidemiology Flashcards
what is epidemiology
study of the distribution and determinants of health related states and events in specific populations
descriptive epidemiologic studies
aims to describe patterns of health, disease and disability
5 W’s of epidemiology
what, who, where, when, why/how
prevalence
provides estimate of probability than an individual HAS disease
useful indicator for establishing healthcare needs in response to disease
number of existing cases at one time / total population at risk
point prevalence
cross sectional
point in time
period prevalence
longitudinal
yearly
what is important about prevalence
impacted by duration and severity of disease
incidence
represents estimate of risk of developing disease
helpful in identifying groups with higher disease rates
cumulative incidence
number of new cases during given time period / total population at risk
incidence rate
number of new cases during given time period / total person - time
exploratory epidemiologic studies
assess relationship between specific exposures and disease status
look at populations that already have risk factors
what do exploratory epidemiologic studies aim to determine
presence and strength of associations –> identification of risk factors
what do exploratory epidemiologic studies help to identify
likelihood of both diagnoses and prognosis of disease
what are the most commonly used methodology for a exploratory epidemiologic studies
case control and cohort studies
relative risk
likelihood that exposure will lead to development of disease or disease state
incidence of disease among the exposed subjects / incidence of disease among the unexposed subjects
(a/(a+b)) / (c/(c+d))
