Lecture 2

Question 1

Name 6 core functions

Answer 1

• Public health surveillance
• Field investigation
• Analytic studies
• Evaluation
• Linkages
• Policy development

Question 2

Describe public health surveillance

Answer 2

• Portray ongoing patterns of disease occurrence, so investigations, control and prevention measures can be applied

Key skills:
- designing and using data collection instruments
- data management via descriptive methods and graphing/presentation reporting (descriptive statistics/Epi. curves)
Data interpretation:
- scientific writing and presentation (CDC/MMWR)

Examples: NNDDS, mortality/morbidity/birth registries

Question 3

Field investigation

Answer 3

• Determine source(s)/vehicle(s) of disease; to simply learn more about the natural history, clinical spectrum, descriptive epidemiology and risk factors of a disease

Question 4

Analytics studies

Answer 4

• Advance the information (hypotheses) generated by descriptive epidemiology techniques
  
  • use of comparison groups
• Key skill:
• design, conduct, analysis, interpretation and communication of research study data and findings

Question 5

Evaluation

Answer 5

• Systematically and objectively determine relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and impact of activities

Question 6

Linkages

Answer 6

• Collaborate/communicate with other public health and healthcare professionals (and public themselves)

Question 7

Policy development

Answer 7

• Provide input, testimony, recommendations regarding disease control and prevention strategies, reportable disease regulations and health-care policy

Question 8

Descriptive Epi

Answer 8

3 W’s (Who, When, Where) - Descriptive epidemiology

Question 9

Analytical Epi

Answer 9

1 H/1 W (How, Why) - Determinants of disease

Question 10

Compare groups and events by:

Answer 10

1. Counting (frequencies)
   
   • counting “cases”/health events and describing them in terms of person, place and time
2. Dividing (percentages)
   
   • dividing # of cases by an appropriate denominator to calculate rate, ratios and proportions
3. Comparing
   
   • comparing changes in disease over time within/between populations
   • comparing absolute/relative changes and differences within/between populations
   • comparing statistical differences between groups or time points

Question 11

Define epidemiology

Answer 11

• A public health discipline which studies the distribution/determinants of disease in a population to control disease and promote health

Question 12

Dr. John Snow. Be able to describe the illness he was

concerned about and how he developed a process for determination of its etiology

Answer 12

• Concerned about cholera outbreak, specified outbreak to one well using investigation/statistical analysis/logic