Health Statistics and Epidemiology Flashcards
epi
on or upon
demos
people
The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems
Epidemiology
logos
the study of
a scientific
discipline with sound methods of
scientific inquiry at its foundation
Epidemiology
data-driven and
relies on a systematic and
unbiased approach to the
collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data.
Epidemiology
draws on
methods from other scientific
fields, including biostatistics and
informatics, with biologic,
economic, social, and behavioral
sciences.
Epidemiology
often described
as the basic science of public health,
and for good reason.
Epidemiology
based on developing
and testing hypotheses grounded in
such scientific fields as biology,
behavioral sciences, physics, and
ergonomics to explain health-related
behaviors, states, and events.
Casual Reasoning
that relies on a
working knowledge of probability,
statistics, and sound research methods.
Quantitative Discipline
The occurrence of health-related events by time, place, and person
Pattern
refers not only to the
number of health events such as the
number of cases of meningitis or
diabetes in a population, but also to the
relationship of that number to the size of
the population.
Frequency
The number of health events and its relationship to a given population
Frequency
may be annual,
seasonal, weekly, daily, hourly, weekday
versus weekend, or any other
breakdown of time that may influence
disease or injury occurrence.
Time pattern
include geographic variation,
urban/rural differences, and location of
work sites or schools
Place pattern
The causes and other factors that influence the occurrence of disease and other health-related events
Determinants
Behaviors related to health and well-being
Health related states or Events
May be seen as anything that affects the well-being of a population
Health related states or Events
assume that illness
does not occur randomly in a population,
but happens only when the right
accumulation of risk factors or
determinants exists in an individual.
Epidemiologists
To
search for these determinants,
epidemiologists use __________ or ___________ to
provide the “Why” and “How” of such
events
Analytic Epidemiology or Epidemiologic Studies
To make the proper diagnosis and
prescribe appropriate treatment for a
patient, the clinician combines medical
(scientific) knowledge with experience,
clinical judgment, and understanding of
the patient.
Application
Epidemiology is not just “the study of”
health in a population; it also involves
applying the knowledge gained by the
studies to community-based practice.
Like the practice of medicine, the
practice of epidemiology is both a
science and an art.
Application
The epidemiologist uses the scientific
methods of descriptive and analytic
epidemiology as well as experience,
epidemiologic judgment, and
understanding of local conditions in
“diagnosing” the health of a community
and proposing appropriate, practical,
and acceptable public health
interventions to control and prevent
disease in the community.
Application
Epidemiology serves as a:
Cornerstone of methodology of public
health research
Evidenced based medicine
Means of identifying risk factors for
diseases and determining optimal
treatment approaches to clinical
practice
