Lecture 1 Overview Of Epidemiology Flashcards
What is distribution?
Distribution is descriptive, it asks who, when, and where.
How frequent the disease is occurring – not just quantity but in relation to population size.
Patterns of occurrence..person place and time.
What is determination?
Determinants are analytical, they as why and how.
Determine risk factors
Cause of the disease- Etiology
Mode(s) of transmission
Social/environmental/biological elements that determine the occurrence or presence of the disease.
What are the objectives in epidemiology?
Identify patterns of disease occurrence in groups over time.
Determine the extent of the disease
Study natural course of the disease
Evaluate effectiveness of treatment or prevention
Developing public health policy
What are the assumptions epidemiologists make?
Diseases occurrence isn’t random
Comparing groups can lead to improved health of population
Making comparisons is the base of systematic disease assessments.
Explain Public Health and Surveillance
Determine the ongoing patterns of disease in order to investigate, control and prevent.
Ex: reportable disease registry, birth registry
Key skills: designing and using collection instruments
Data management- graphing
Data interpretation- scientific writing and presentation
Describe Field Investigation
Learn the source or vehicle of disease or learn about the natural history, clinical aspect, where when and why, and risk factors.
Ex: eggs as source of salmonella
Explain Analytic Studies
To advance the info generated by descriptive epidemiology techniques with the use of a valid comparing group.
Key skills: design, conduct analysis, interpret, and communicate findings
What is evaluation?
Evaluating public health services and other activities for relevance, efficiency, efficacy, and effectiveness.
What are linkages?
Relaying pertinent public health information to other professionals
What is policy development?
Provide information regarding disease control and prevention in an effort to influence health care policy.
What are the ways epidemiologists describe their findings?
Counting (frequencies)- counting cases or health events and describing them in terms of who, when, and where:
Dividing (percentages)- # of cases divided by the appropriate denominator
Comparing- rates over time for different groups
What is the John Snow story?
He is the father of epidemiology. He was disturbed by the alarming number of cholera deaths in a community, he unknowing used distribution and determination. It was believed to be contract reacted through the air but he realized everyone would have it if that were the case. He suspected it was the water. He asked the questions where, when, who, why and how. After investigating he created a map and discovered that all of the people who fell ill drank from a certain water pump. He then reported his findings to municipal officials who then then removed the handle of the water pump. After the removal cholera cases drastically decreased
What is epidemiology?
A basic science that studies the distribution and determination of disease in POPULATIONS to control disease and illness and promote health
