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.
How are immunizations modifiable?
You can choose to get them or choose not to.
What is the environment of the epi triad?
Anything that is an external factor that can affect the host’s vulnerability to an agent.
Geography, climate, plants and animals, psychosocial even , socioecononomic
Geography and climate environmental influence
Different altitude and weather can affect health
Flora & Fauna
plants and animals that can affect health - may need to live somewhere dry if you’re allergic to plants or animals. Or not in the country.
What do we mean by psychosocial factors having an influence on environment
stress
Socioeconomic factors of the environment
money, debt, living
or even social determinants of health : housing, food, safety. etc.
Radon map
invisible gas from granite
red = higher amounts of it
Chain of infection
And order?
Chain like model to show transission of a communicable disease from its source to a susceptible host
pathogen > reservoir > portal of exit > transmission > portal of entry
pathogen
reservoir
portal of exit
transmission
- pathogen: is the agent
- reservoir is where it dwells ; respiratory tract for covid; soil for tetanus
- portal of exit : path how agent leaves the host (can often be through symptoms)
- transmission: direct or indirect (vehicleborne, fomoites)
What is meant by portal of entry
Similar to portal of exit. This is now how someone got the agent.
Ex: try to figure out what someone ate if it is foodborne
New host of chain
Noncummicable disease model
Not the same as chain of infection due to it not being as infective. More genetic endowement. Has more to do with lifestyle and different categories of factors as well like:
- personality, beliefs, behavior
- environment, health care, water, air pollution, economics
Web
Can be used for anything. Further up the ladder then the cheaper it is.
Second row, you can change your own.
But as nurses, we can intervene in any box of the web.
Endemic
When the existing issue is the same amount as we were expecting
- seeing colds in winter
- softball injuries in summer
Epidemic
Occurence is more than expected but not crazy
ex: measles. small pox; there shouldn’t be any (so not all about numbers).
Pandemic
When the existing problem is much more than expected
worldwide issue like covid.
How many phases are WHO phases of pandemic
6
phase 1 of WHO
phase 2 of WHO
no new cases of subtypes n humans. none in animals
no new subtypes in humans but some in animals.
phase 3 of WHO
phase 4 of WHO
isolated human infections w no spreading except through rare close contact
small, highly local cluster of cases with limited transmission
phase 5 of WHO
phase 6 of WHO
Large local cluster , limited human to human spread. possibility of pandemic
pandemic phase; transmission is constant
What is standardized data
Taken same time & way each time such as a census
And a census is important bc it helps us keep track
Black infant mortality vs others?
black infant mortality is much higher
How are births, deaths, and disease reported to the state
problem?
Doctors/clinics/hospitals > local health department > state health > CDC
problem is not all doctors report
Rates
why do we do this?
Number of events that occur in a given population in a given period of time (can even just be a single day)
It allows us to easily compare different instances of occurence of the same issues
Ex: head lice in derby vs head lice in wichita
natality
number of live births to residents in an area in a calender year
//
population in area in same year
Morbidity
number of cases of illness in an area of calnedar year
//
total population in the same area and year
Mortality rate
No of deaths to residents in an area in a calendar year
//
population of same area and year
incidence rates
no of ne cases of a disease ina certain time period
//
population at risk in the same time period
prevalence rate
number of new and old cases of a disease in a certain time period
//
population at risk in same time period
crude death rate
number of deaths (all cases )
-_______________________
estimtaed mid yr population
age specific death rate
number of deaths (35-44)
______________
estimated midyear population (35-44)
Cause specific death rate
number of deaths (specific cases)
___________
estimtaed midyear population
infant mortality rate
composite rate
measure infant deaths from birth up to one year of age
looks at more than just infant mortality. includes prenatal care
who has lower infant mortality rates: developed or underdeveloped countries
developed
why should you be cautious w rates?
- they’re estimtaes
- old
- heading is important
- reliability
- underreporting happens
- check reliability
How do you do the math for rates
4th grades - 10
5th graders - 20
Total school population - 400
Add the target populations 10 + 20 = 30.
Dividie by the total population. 30/400.
Multiple by the same numerical amount. 30/400 x 100
