Epidemiology Flashcards
health status indicator tells us
causes of diseases and problems
risk factors for diseases and problems
factors that promote health “protective factors”
epidemiology
study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations in order to control health problems
study of the occurrence and distribution of health related events in specified populations
questions epidemiology answers
how healthy is the population and is their health improving?
who is healthy and who is not?
what can we learn from current trends in health status to help prepare for the future?
what are the key health issues?
comparing health statuses
population level (national, provincial, city, neighbourhood)
across life span (infants, youth, adults, seniors)
within and between groups (indigenous people, homeless, immigrant, gender, socioeconomic status)
be aware of confounding factors
demographic factors comparison within and between groups positive and negative impact on health direct and indirect impact on health is it even appropriate to compare this group of people to this group?
health indicator framework
health status = well-being, health conditions, human function, death
non-medical determinants of health = health behaviours, living and working conditions, personal resources, environmental factors
health system performance = acceptability, accessibility, appropriateness, competence, community, effectiveness, efficiency, safety
community and health system characteristics = community, health system, resources
association vs. causation
association = reasonable evidence that a connection exists between a stressor and a disease causation = when a relationship has been confirmed beyond doubt
epidemiologic triangle
agent = force that causes disease host = human body where disease happens environment = promotes agent to inhabit host
web of causation
synergism = the whole is more than the sum of its separate parts
determinants of health compounds risk
purpose of epidemiology as a tool for public health
determine extent of disease in a population
identify patterns and trends in health status
identify causes/risk factors of disease and good health
make informed decisions
evaluate effectiveness of prevention and treatment
propose priorities for additional research
epidemiological measurement
mortality = death rate morbidity = illness rate survival = prognosis rate
measures of disease frequency
mortality rates = number of deaths from a specific cause
survival rates = used to describe the effect of a given disease
morbidity = describes illness or experiences of health over time (incidence and prevalence)
incidence rate
the number of individuals in a population who develop the condition during a specific time period
prevalence rate
the frequency of all current cases of disease, old and new, in a specified population
proportion of the population which exhibits the disease
numerator includes all the persons having the disease
denominator is total population (affected and unaffected)
point prevalence
the frequency of all current cases at a given instance in time
“do you currently smoke?”
period prevalence
expresses the total number of cases of a disease known to have existed at some time during a specified period of time
“have you smoked within the last six months?”
sum of point prevalence and incidence
formula for crude mortality rate
total deaths from any cause in a given year in a population / average total population for that same year
formula for specific mortality rate
total deaths from a specific cause in a given year in a population (subgroup) / average number of population (subgroup) for the same year
formula for infant death rate
total deaths of infants in a given year in a population / total number of live births in the same year in population
formula for prevalence rate
number of people with given disease in given population at one point in time / total given population at same point in time
formula for incidence rate
number of new cases of given disease in population in given time / average total population in same time
relative risk
incidence rate of disease in exposed population / incidence rate in unexposed population
