Epidemiology Flashcards
What is Epidemiology ?
the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and other health outcomes in human populations
- also deals with natural history of diseases and it can provide evidence that contributes to prevention
Why is Epidemiology important ?
- health care and planning
- tool for investigation of the cause of disease (defines characteristics, prevalence, incidence, and mortality)
What is the role of a Epidemiologist ?
traces the spread of a disease in a population (to identify origin and mode of transmission)
- with clinical studies
- disease reporting surveys
- insurance questionnaires
- interview with pt’s
What is disease surveillance ?
ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of outcome-specific data for use in planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice
What can data in surveillance system be used for ?
- estimate magnitude of health problems in a population
- understand natural history of a disease
- detect outbreaks or epidemics
- document the distribution of a health event
- test hypotheses about causes of disease
- monitor changes in infectious organisms
What does sporadic level mean ?
occasional causes occurring at irregular intervals
- cyclosporiasis in the US
What does endemic level mean ?
persistent occurrence with a low to moderate level
What does hyper endemic level mean ?
persistently high level of occurrence
What does epidemic mean ?
occurrence clearly in excess of the expected level for a given time period
- for a certain period of time
- has a beginning and an end
What does pandemic mean ?
epidemic spread over several countries or continents, affecting a large number of people
What are the two major uses of epidemiological research ?
- assessing the community’s health
- making individual decisions
What is disease definition mean ?
characteristics or combination of character that best discriminate disease from non diseased
What is disease occurrence mean ?
rate of development of new cases in population
- proportion of current disease within population
What is disease causation ?
risk factors for disease development and their relative strength with respect to an individual and population
What is disease outcome ?
the outcome following disease onset and of the risk factors
What is disease management mean ?
the relative effectiveness of proposed therapeutic interventions
What is disease prevention mean ?
the relative effectiveness of proposed preventative strategies including screening
What is the epidemiologic triangle ?
used for describing the causality of infectious diseases
- provides a framework for organizing the causality of other types of environmental problems
- host, agent, environment
Who is John Snow ?
known as the father of epidemiology
- in the 1800s in England they had a Cholera outbreak
- noticed that people with Cholera had cramps and D &V
- was studying where the cases were from and suspected it was from a common contaminated water source
- at this time they would get their water from these pumps
- he mapped out the cases and their locations and found they were centered around the 40 broad street pump
- tried to get the pump shut down but people resisted because they didn’t want to walk far for their water
- no one believed him
What is the role of clinical medicine in Epidemiology?
- focuses on the individual
- physician uses lab tools and data for diagnosis
- take medical history and conduct physical exam
- does not take other factors in account
- does not form assumptions
- does not help in policy formulation
- not a quantitative science
What are the differences between Epidemiologists and clinical medicine ?
Epidemiologists:
- focus on group
- epidemiologists uses quantitative tools for community diagnosis
- takes into account all factors which cause disease
- form assumptions or hypothesis
- helps in public health policy formation
- quantitative and qualitative science
In what ways do epidemiologists help ?
- investigation of epidemic
- surveillance for disease
- making projections
- assessing the programme for mass screening for diseases
- assisting in formulating medical teaching curriculum
What is common source outbreak mean ?
one in which people are exposed intermittently or continuously to a common harmful source
- intermittent: irregular curves
- continuous: rise gradually and stay stable
What is a point source outbreak mean ?
common source outbreak in which the exposure period is relatively brief and all cases occur within one incubation period
- sharp upward slope and a gradual downward slope
What is propagated outbreak mean ?
one that is spread from person to person
- may last longer
- has series of progressively taller peaks each with a incubation period apart
