Epidemiology

Question 1

What is Epidemiology ?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Why is Epidemiology important ?

Answer 2

• health care and planning
• tool for investigation of the cause of disease (defines characteristics, prevalence, incidence, and mortality)

Question 3

What is the role of a Epidemiologist ?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What is disease surveillance ?

Answer 4

ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of outcome-specific data for use in planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice

Question 5

What can data in surveillance system be used for ?

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

What does sporadic level mean ?

Answer 6

occasional causes occurring at irregular intervals
- cyclosporiasis in the US

Question 7

What does endemic level mean ?

Answer 7

persistent occurrence with a low to moderate level

Question 8

What does hyper endemic level mean ?

Answer 8

persistently high level of occurrence

Question 9

What does epidemic mean ?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What does pandemic mean ?

Answer 10

epidemic spread over several countries or continents, affecting a large number of people

Question 11

What are the two major uses of epidemiological research ?

Answer 11

• assessing the community’s health
• making individual decisions

Question 12

What is disease definition mean ?

Answer 12

characteristics or combination of character that best discriminate disease from non diseased

Question 13

What is disease occurrence mean ?

Answer 13

rate of development of new cases in population
- proportion of current disease within population

Question 14

What is disease causation ?

Answer 14

risk factors for disease development and their relative strength with respect to an individual and population

Question 15

What is disease outcome ?

Answer 15

the outcome following disease onset and of the risk factors

Question 16

What is disease management mean ?

Answer 16

the relative effectiveness of proposed therapeutic interventions

Question 17

What is disease prevention mean ?

Answer 17

the relative effectiveness of proposed preventative strategies including screening

Question 18

What is the epidemiologic triangle ?

Answer 18

used for describing the causality of infectious diseases
- provides a framework for organizing the causality of other types of environmental problems
- host, agent, environment

Question 19

Who is John Snow ?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What is the role of clinical medicine in Epidemiology?

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

What are the differences between Epidemiologists and clinical medicine ?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

In what ways do epidemiologists help ?

Answer 22

• investigation of epidemic
• surveillance for disease
• making projections
• assessing the programme for mass screening for diseases
• assisting in formulating medical teaching curriculum

Question 23

What is common source outbreak mean ?

Answer 23

one in which people are exposed intermittently or continuously to a common harmful source
- intermittent: irregular curves
- continuous: rise gradually and stay stable

Question 24

What is a point source outbreak mean ?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What is propagated outbreak mean ?

Answer 25

one that is spread from person to person
- may last longer
- has series of progressively taller peaks each with a incubation period apart