Module 1-2 Flashcards
What is Epidemiology?
The study and distribution of determinants of health-related states or events in specific populations and the application of this study to control health problems.
Gordis definition of Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of how disease is distributed in populations and the factors that influence of determine this distribution.
What is primary prevention
Prevention of the initial development of a disease
Gordis definition of Primary Prevention
Denotes an action taken to prevent the development of a disease in a person who is well and does not yet have the disease in question
What is secondary prevention
Early detection of disease to reduce severity and complications. It involves identifying people in whom a disease process has already begun but who have not yet developed clinical signs and symptoms of the illness.
What is Tertiary Prevention
Reducing the impact of a disease. It denotes preventing complications in those who have already developed signs and symptoms of an illness and have been diagnosed.
What is the goal of epidemiology
- Identifying Risk Factors: Understanding the causes and risk factors of diseases to guide prevention efforts.
- Tracking Disease Spread: Monitoring the occurrence and spread of diseases to control outbreaks and prevent epidemics.
- Informing Public Health Policies: Providing evidence-based data to shape health guidelines, policies, and interventions.
- Evaluating Health Interventions: Assessing the effectiveness of healthcare practices, treatments, and public health programs.
- Promoting Preventative Measures: Encouraging actions that prevent disease and improve health outcomes for populations.
What are the five objectives of epidemiology?
- Identify the etiology or CAUSE of a disease and its relevant risk factors
- Determine the EXTENT of the disease
- Study the NATURAL HISTORY and PROGNOSIS of a disease
- Evaluate existing and newly developed PREVENTATIVE and THERAPEUTIC measures and modes of care delivery
- Develop public POLICY
Population-Based Prevention
A prevention measure that is widely applied to a population. It must be inexpensive and noninvasive to be cost-effective.
High-risk Prevention
Targeted prevention measures applied to a high-risk group. While these interventions can be more expensive and invasive, they hinge on correctly identifying the high-risk group.
What are the two significant steps to the epidemiologic approach?
- Determine if a statistical association exists between exposure to a factor or a person’s characteristic and the presence of a disease in question.
- Dervie appropriate inferences about the possible causal relationship from the patterns of associations that have been previously found.
Passive Surveillance
A surveillance system by which a health jurisdiction receives reports on health outcomes or exposures submitted from hospitals, clinics, public health units, or other sources.
Active Surveillance
A surveillance system that employs staff members to regularly contact health care providers or the population to seek information about health conditions.
Cumulative Incidence
The Number of new cases in the population during a specified period of time / the number of people at risk during that time period
Incidence Rate
Number of new cases occurring in the population during a specified time period / total person time at risk
Describes the RISK of newly developing a health outcome.
Prevalence
Number of cases in the population at a specified time / number of people in the population at that specified time
This is a proportion and described the proportion of people in a community who have or have had a health outcome
It is the DISEASE BURDEN
Risk Ratio
The likelihood of developing a disease overall
Rate Ratio
How fast people develop a disease
Who is associated with the Cholera Outbreak
John Snow - 1850s
Who is associated with smallpox
Edward Jenner - 1796 - early 1800s
Who is associated with handwashing
Ignaz Semmelweis - Mid 1800s
Who is the father of social epidemiology?
W. E. B. DuBois
What is Surveillance
The ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data is essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice and is closely integrated with the timely dissemination of these data to those who need to know.
What is the “surveillance case definition”
A set of uniform criteria use to define a disease for public health.
