Epidemiology Flashcards
What does Epidemiology try to help us figure out
Why some people get sick and why others remain healthy
Epidemiology defintion
Study of distribution and determinants of health related states in specified populations and the application of this study to control health problems and main health (study of health/disease in populations)
Does epidemiology focus on individuals or groups
groups
SOAPIE
Acronym that shows how the epi process can parallel the nursing process & be used together.
Subjective
Objective
Gather assesment and summarize
Decide upon the plan
Implement the intervention
Evaluate
What is involved in the epi triad?
Agent (antigen)
Host (person)
Environment
Types of agents
Biological, Chemical, and Physical
Biological agents examples
Virus
Bacteria
Fungi
Protozoa
Metazoa
Rickettsia (rocky mtn spotted fever)
Chemical agents examples
Pesticides
Food additives
Pharmcologics
Industrial chemicals
Air pollutants
Cigarette smoke
Physical agents examples
heat
light
radiation
noise
vibration
speeding object (bullets)
Agent’s extent of exposure
How long does it take to contract this agent yourself
Agent pathogenecity
How easy is the agent able to cause a disease state in the host?
Ex: measles is fairly easy. West nile virus not so much
Agent infectivity
How easy an agent can infect someone
Agent virulence
How bad the agent can be for you or how bad the diseae is
ex: covid is pretty bad
Agent toxigenicty
Whether the agent can cause toxins
Ex: botulism or tetanus
Agent resistance
Agent’s ability to survive
Agent antigenicity
Agent’s ability to reduce antibody response
What is a host?
Anything the agent can invade. Best example is you as a human.
Susceptibility factor categories of the host
Factors that cause you to more susceptible to being invaded by an agent
- Modifiable
- Nonmodifiable
Age
Gender
Genes
modifiable or nonmodifiable
nonmodifiable
lifestyle
occupation
environment
immunizaiton
modifiable or nonmodifiable
modifiable or you can change these
What’s the big deal about age?
Younger children and older adults are more at risk due to either immaturity or maturity of their organs and immune systems.
How can gender affect your ability to be a host?
Men won’t get ovarian cancer.
Women won’t get prostate cancer.
How can genes be a risk factor for being a host to an agent?
Diseases like sick cell, hemophilia , etc
or even cholesterol or hypertension
Examples of lifestyle choices
diet and exercise
Why is occupation a big deal for possibly being a host?
Environment?
Certain occupations are exposed to differnt things but you can change occupation so it is modifiable.
Environment is modifiable as well. But if you’re in CO and you have COPD, you’re not doing yourself any favors.