epidemiology Flashcards
epidemic
increase in disease numbers in a particular area
endemic
continual presence of a disease in an area
pandemic
an epidemic on a worldwide scale
sporadic disease
infrequent with no discernible pattern
morbidity
disease rate
mortality
death
incidence
new cases
prevalence
how many cases in a population
how do you calculate ratios
obtained by dividing one quantity by another
often used to determine priority in terms of needs and resources allocation
calculation of attack rate and its importance
number of new cases/ total population
form of incidence that measures the proportion of persons in a population who experience an acute health during a limited of time
attack rate definition
exposed and get sick
crude rate definition
death all causes
causes specific rate definition
stroke, overdose, etc
case fatality rate
percentage of people who die from a disease, among all with the diagnosis in a specific period of time
age specific definition
limit set based on phenomena of interest, such as infant mortality
adjusted rates
used when we want to try to control for differences such as age or known conditions
epidemiological triangle: host
age
sex
race
genetic profile
previous diseases
immune status
religion
customs
occupation
marital status
family background
epidemiological triangle: environment
temperature
altitude
crowding
housing
neighborhood
water
milk
food
pollution
noise
epidemiological triangle: agent
biological (bacteria, viral)
chemical (poison, alcohol, smoke)
physical (trauma, fire)
nutrition (lack, excess)
web of causation
demonstrates the complex interrelationships of many factors interacting with each other to influence the risk for or distribution of health outcome
identifies causal relationships
associations are sometimes mutual with lines of causation going in both direction
epidemiological model of public health
treats the multiple determinants of health as interrelated and acting synergistically (or antagonistically) rather than as discrete factors
encompasses determinants at many levels
biological
mental
behavioral
social
environmental
includes policy, culture, and economic environments
includes lifespan perspective
john snow
father of epidemiology
utilized door to door investigation and idesease mapping the origins of cholera outbreak in London in 1854
