Oral Health and Disease in the Population

Question 1

define epidemiology

Answer 1

the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including disease), and the application of this study to the control of diseases and other health problems

Question 2

Types of epidemiology

Answer 2

• Surveillance and descriptive studies can be used to study distribution of disease
• Analytical studies are used to study determinants of disease
• Experimental epidemiology assesses the effects of treatments, preventive measures and intervention programmes

Question 3

Descriptive Epidemiology? what is it?

Answer 3

Describes the distribution of disease, risk factors and determinants of health in a population or sub-group.
Usually describes disease in relation to characteristics of the population e.g. time, place, personal characteristics (age,sex, ethnicity)
- Often makes use of routinely collected data
- Can be useful in identifying scope for research into causation, service planning and identifying high risk groups and inequalities

Question 4

What is Analytical Epidemiology?

Answer 4

• Exploring the causes or determinants
• Hypothesis testing
• Case-control and cohort studies

Question 5

Example of a case control study

Answer 5

Cases of perio disease amongst smokers and non smokers. Control = without perio - linkes to smokers and non smokers

Question 6

Define prevalence?

Answer 6

Proportion of a population that are cases at a specific point intime.

Point prevalence- single examination at one point in time
Period prevalence- proportion of the population that are case sat any time within a stated period

Question 7

Define incidence?

Answer 7

Rate at which new cases occur in a population duringa specified time period.
- E.g. cases of thyrotoxicosis in 1982
10 per 100,000 per year in Barrow in Furness

Question 8

Cohort study

Answer 8

• Longitudinal study
• Fixed or dynamic
• Subjects are categorised on the basis of being exposed to thecause (or protective factor) or not
• Retrospective or prospective
• Data analysis
• Crude rates of outcome
• Standardised rates or ratios of outcome
• Attributable risk

Question 9

Strengths and weaknesses of case control

Answer 9

-More suitable for rare diseases
* Examine one effect but several exposures
* Prone to bias in measuring exposure
* May be difficult to elucidate cause and effect
* Cheap and quick to conduct

Question 10

Strengths and weaknesses of cohort study

Answer 10

• Suitable for rare exposures
• Examine multiple effects of single exposure
• Can minimise bias in measuring exposure
• Better at elucidating cause and effect
• Expensive and slow to conduct
• Prone to drop out