Epidemiology

Question 1

health status indicator tells us

Answer 1

causes of diseases and problems
risk factors for diseases and problems
factors that promote health “protective factors”

Question 2

epidemiology

Answer 2

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

Question 3

questions epidemiology answers

Answer 3

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?

Question 4

comparing health statuses

Answer 4

population level (national, provincial, city, neighbourhood)
across life span (infants, youth, adults, seniors)
within and between groups (indigenous people, homeless, immigrant, gender, socioeconomic status)

Question 5

be aware of confounding factors

Answer 5

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?

Question 6

health indicator framework

Answer 6

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

Question 7

association vs. causation

Answer 7

association = reasonable evidence that a connection exists between a stressor and a disease 
causation = when a relationship has been confirmed beyond doubt

Question 8

epidemiologic triangle

Answer 8

agent = force that causes disease
host = human body where disease happens
environment = promotes agent to inhabit host

Question 9

web of causation

Answer 9

synergism = the whole is more than the sum of its separate parts
determinants of health compounds risk

Question 10

purpose of epidemiology as a tool for public health

Answer 10

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

Question 11

epidemiological measurement

Answer 11

mortality = death rate
morbidity = illness rate
survival = prognosis rate

Question 12

measures of disease frequency

Answer 12

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)

Question 13

incidence rate

Answer 13

the number of individuals in a population who develop the condition during a specific time period

Question 14

prevalence rate

Answer 14

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)

Question 15

point prevalence

Answer 15

the frequency of all current cases at a given instance in time
“do you currently smoke?”

Question 16

period prevalence

Answer 16

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

Question 17

formula for crude mortality rate

Answer 17

total deaths from any cause in a given year in a population / average total population for that same year

Question 18

formula for specific mortality rate

Answer 18

total deaths from a specific cause in a given year in a population (subgroup) / average number of population (subgroup) for the same year

Question 19

formula for infant death rate

Answer 19

total deaths of infants in a given year in a population / total number of live births in the same year in population

Question 20

formula for prevalence rate

Answer 20

number of people with given disease in given population at one point in time / total given population at same point in time

Question 21

formula for incidence rate

Answer 21

number of new cases of given disease in population in given time / average total population in same time

Question 22

relative risk

Answer 22

incidence rate of disease in exposed population / incidence rate in unexposed population