Lecture 2: Epidemiology

Question 1

Epidemiology

Answer 1

study of the distribution of disease & determination of disease frequency in populations
“cause of disease”

Question 2

goal of epidemiology

Answer 2

control health problems & increase health at population level

Question 3

operationally

Answer 3

counting causes of mortality/morbidity (variables)
ID factors that are causes & potentially modifiable
guiding interventions to improve public health

Question 4

basic assumptions of epidemiology

Answer 4

1. does NOT occur at random
2. casual factors can be ID
3. can lead to preventative intervention

Question 5

concerns of epidemiology

Answer 5

1. exposure (chemical, educational, physical)
2. outcomes (disease, cure, better quality of life)

both must be accurately measured & understand what is represented

Question 6

past dental epidemiology & oral health

Answer 6

1. fluoride in water
2. fluoride in toothpaste (1950)
3. smoking = risk for oral cancer

Question 7

endemic

Answer 7

usual occurrence in population

Question 8

epidemic

Answer 8

meaningful increase in occurrence in population

Question 9

pandemic

Answer 9

increase in large region/worldwide

Question 10

independent variable

Answer 10

exposure of interest

Question 11

dependent variable

Answer 11

outcome of interest

Question 12

steps of reasoning

Answer 12

1. suspicion of exposure-disease relationship
2. hypothesis formation
3. test of hypothesis
4. rule out chance, bias, confounding

Question 13

cause

Answer 13

event/outcome that proceeds the disease that would not have occurred otherwise

Question 14

association

Answer 14

an identifiable relation between an exposure and a disease

Question 15

criteria for assessing causality

Answer 15

1. strength of relationship
2. dose-response relationship
3. temporal sequence
4. biologically credible (depends on current state of knowledge)
5. consistent w/ other studies

Question 16

epidemiological approach

Answer 16

1. ID disease
2. ID exposure/risk factors
3. stats of correlation
4. hold constants
5. infer casual association
6. recommended intervention

Question 17

4 types of quantification

Answer 17

1. nominal
2. ordinal
3. interval
4. ratio

Question 18

nominal scale

Answer 18

uses name

Question 19

ordinal scale

Answer 19

order based on severity

Question 20

interval scale

Answer 20

mathematic order

NO true 0

Question 21

ratio scale

Answer 21

mathematic order

TRUE 0

Question 22

prevalence proportion

Answer 22

AT A SPECIFIC TIME
# of cases/ # people in population
NOT A RATE

Question 23

incidence

Answer 23

new cases/ population @ risk

is a rate

Question 24

prevelence

Answer 24

cases infected @ one time

Question 25

incident

Answer 25

new cases of infected population over time