Epidemiology Flashcards
Study of the distribution of health related conditions in specified populations and the determinants of these health events
ETYMOLOGY
Components of Epidemiology
- Study
- Frequency
- Distribution: how many of… who? Where? When?
- Determinants: how? Why?
- Health-Related data V.S. Disease
- Populations/Communities
- Application
Applied science, practice, health prevention,
health promotion
Application
How does one element influence the occurrence
of the events
Determinants: how? Why?
answers the question “how many?” (number of
times the health event occurs)
○ Frequency
Father of Western Medicine
Hippocrates
Father of Modern Epidemiology
★ Figured out the cause of Cholera breakout in the
past was because of the Broad street pump
handle being used by infected people therefore
spreading the disease (First beginnings of
Epidemiology
John Snow
T or F
Today, we use to have this register of infant baptism, so it’s usually the churches or the parishes that have these records of the neighborhood, the community data. in front baptisms would then correlate with the births in the community. and they would also have a census of the people who died
because the people used to bury their dead usually at
the back of the church.
false
in the earlier times we used to have this register of
infant baptism, so it’s usually the churches or the
parishes that have these records of the neighborhood,
the community data. in front baptisms would then
correlate with the births in the community. and they
would also have a census of the people who died
because the people used to bury their dead usually at
the back of the church.
pertains to the number of people who are disease
free at the start of data collection. so they can
develop the disease throughout the time that the
data is being collected. But the requirement is
that at the start they do not have the condition.
Population-at-risk
★ It is the prerequisite for measuring the frequency
Case definition
It means the person bearing the outcome of
interest. If the outcome of interest is the absence
of disease, they can be a case. But, if you want the
outcome of interest to them having a condition,
then there is also a case
CAse
★ Describes HOW COMMON an illness (or other
health event) is related to the size of the
population (population-at-risk) and a measure
of time
Measures of disease frequency
Purposes of Epidemiological studies
Causation of disease
○ Describing the natural history of disease
★ Includes the disease outcomes (who survives? Who dies?)
○ Describing the health status of the population
○ Evaluating interventions
○ For public health intelligence and public health promotion efforts
A type of study where measurements like disease rates and information about exposures are made on a group of people
ECOLOGICAL
STUDIES
Describes the
characteristics of a group of people
who have the same disease or the
same exposure
CASE SERIES
The aim of the study is to understand the demographics, clinical presentations, prognosis or other characteristics of people who have a particular disease
● It may also describe something unusual
○ early 1980s had an occurrence of an unusual
pneumonia in men which led to the identification of
HIV
CASE SERIES
A study that takes a selected population and measure health
information at a given point in time
○ gives a snapshot of their health
CROSS
SECTIONAL
It involves asking participants a series of questions using
questionnaires
CROSS
SECTIONAL
● These studies are also called this,
because they measure how many
people have a disease at a particular
point in time
● The selected population must be the
representative of the total population
PREVALENCE STUDIES
It uses a comparison group called controls who are similar to cases but do not have the disease
○ both groups are asked about their previous exposures to
different risk factors
CASE
CONTROL
STUDY
Each of the risk factors the odds of
being exposed if they were a case is
compared to the odds of being
exposed if they were a control this is
called an ODDS RATIO
caswe controol study
T or F
An odds ratio of MORE THAN ONE
means that people with the disease are
more likely to have been exposed to
that risk factor than people without
the disease
○ this suggests that it could be a
possible cause of the disease
● An odds ratio of LESS THAN ONE
suggests that it’s a PROTECTIVE
FACTOR
● It is the ratio between the risk of
disease in the exposed group
compared to the risk of disease in the
unexposed group
RELATIVE RISK (RR)
a well-known cohort study in the
1950s
● This study provided valuable
scientific evidence of the
HARMFUL EFFECTS OF SMOKING
especially the LINK BETWEEN
SMOKING AND LUNG CANCER
BRITISH DOCTOR STUDY
