Epidemiology Flashcards
What is epidemiology?
The study of frequency, distribution and determinants of health problems and disease in human populations.
The unit of interest is population
What is descriptive epidemiology?
It’s used to describe a health problem. Characterize the amount and distribution of a disease
- what, when, where and who of a condition (person, place, time)
What is analytical epidemiology?
Often follow descriptive studies: used to determine the cause of a health problem.
- explains the “why” of a condition (agent, host, environment)
Descriptive epidemiology
Usually makes use of routinely collected data like death certificate, hospital statistics, etc)
may require special surveys (usually cross sectional)
can’t answer why but can raise a causal hypothesis
can often provide sufficient info for public health action to be taken
What is incidence?
Number of new cases of disease that develops, in a population of individuals at risk, during a specific time period
What is prevalence?
Total number of existing cases of diseases in a population at one point in time.
What are types of Analytical studies?
Observational studies
- cross sectional study (may be descriptive or analytical)
- case control study
- cohort study
Intervention study/experimentation
- Randomised controlled trial (RCT) – clinical trials
What is cross-sectional studies?
Info on health status and other characteristics is collected from each subject at one point in time.
- can be descriptive (e.g. prevalence of cough in a population)
- or analytical (e.g. association between cough & risk factors such as type of house lived in or whether person is a smoker)
What is a case-control study?
compared people with a condition to a similar group of people without the condition. The aim is to try and identify the risk factors which may have caused the cases to get the condition in the first place. often used to investigate the source of an outbreak of disease
What is a cohort study?
Follow up to 2 groups of people over time and compare the occurrence of disease. one group is exposed to a possible risk factor for the disease, while the other is not (the control group). The exposure is the starting point, the disease is the outcome of interest
In what ways does epidemiology assist in treating people with existing diseases?
By identifying patterns of disease occurrence and risk factors, guiding targeted interventions and treatments
How does epidemiology contribute to preventing illness and promoting health?
By identifying risk factors, informing preventive measures, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions
How does epidemiology help evaluate existing health services?
By providing insight into the distribution of health problems and their impact on the population
What does a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) compare?
The effectiveness of a new intervention against the best current alternative or placebo
What type of interventions can RCTs be conducted for?
Both clinical and experimental interventions
