PopH, PAL, and SFM Flashcards
Define descriptive and analytic epidemiology
Descriptive epidemiology refers to the who, what, when, where, why of cases, can identify patterns among cases and in populations by time, place and person - enables hypothesis generation
Analytic epidemiology, compares caharacteristsic between groups or populations and attempts to find a causal relationship or association for differeences, and quantify this relationshp - enables hypothesis testing
Provide examples of occupational hazards
Hazard is any source or situation that has the potential to cause harm to workers.
Situational hazards: psychosocial(short term overload, failing to cope, sudden horror or terror, bullying and harassment), safety (situations that can cause accident, trauma or injury; slips, trips and falls; workplace layout; heigh related hazards), ergonomics (manual handling, repetitive work, long working duration, posture and body movements), mixed basis (sick building syndrome, fire hazard)
Hazards of specific agent/form of energy: chem (gas, fume , particulate, mied eg machine smoke and tobacco smoke), phys (noise, electricity, lighting, barometic pressure, radiation, vibration and temperature), biological
Define occ dest of health
Various factors related to a person’s work or occupation that can affect their physical, mental, and social well-being
These determinants include aspects of the work environment – hazards or occupational factors
Other occupational determinants of health include
type of job
work hours
income and job security
access to healthcare and other resources
Define social determinants of health
Social determinants are social features that increase the risk of illness through their influence on biomedical and behavioural factors, as well as impacting on health directly.
Social determinants are referred to as the “causes of the causes of illness”
The social determinants of health are defined by the World Health Organisation as:
“The circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. The conditions in which people live and die are, in turn, shaped by political, social, and economic forces.”
HI
Calculate odds ratio
Definition:
Relative associations are a ratio of proportions, and apply to measures of incidence, prevalence and mortality.
The most common relative associations are:
risk ratio (relative risk) - ratio of incidence of outcome in two exposure groups- obtain from rcts and cohort studies prevalence ratio - ratio of prevalence of outcome in two exposure groups:obtain from cross-sectional study odds ratio - ratio of odds of outcome in two exposure groups.- obtained from case control studies
The choice of measure depends on the study design.
The risk ratio is calculated in studies where participants are followed over time and the development of the outcome is measured:
cohort studies randomised controlled trials. RR = (incidence in the exposed group) / (incidence in the unexposed group)
To calculate the risk ratio from a contingency table:
Calculate the incidence in the exposed group (a/a+b) Calculate the incidence in the unexposed group (c/c+d) Divide the answer from (1) by the answer in (2)
Formula:
RR = (a/a+b) / (c/c+d)
Odds is the ratio of belonging to one group compared to THE OTHER.
The odds of exposure in the case group = exposed cases / unexposed cases. The odds of exposure in the control group = exposed controls / unexposed controls.
Calculate risk ratio
Recall ratio is a comparison of two independent variables i.e. A/B
Risk ratio or relative risk, calculated in studies where people are followed over time, and the development of an outcome is then measured e.g. cohort or RCTs.
RR = (incidence in the exposed group) / (incidence in the unexposed group)
To calculate the risk ratio from a contingency table:
Calculate the incidence in the exposed group (a/a+b) Calculate the incidence in the unexposed group (c/c+d) Divide the answer from (1) by the answer in (2)
Formula:
RR = (a/a+b) / (c/c+d)
where a is exposed and disease, b is exposed and no disease, c is no exposed and disease, d is no exposure and no disease
Calculate rate difference
The rate difference is calculated by subtracting the incidence rate in the comparison group from the incidence rate in the group of interest. As it is an absolute measure two compare the rates in two groups, the units of measurement are the reported (and are the same as the units used in reporting the rates).
The correct answer is: 90.1-44.9 = 45.2 per 1000 person years
Interpret 95% CI
A confidence interval gives us a range of values within which we are reasonably confident the true population value lies. cf The p-value tells us the strength of the evidence against the null hypothesis.
Confidence intervals and p-values are both derived from the size of the difference (the effect size or point estimate) and it’s standard error, therefore they are closely related.
If the 95% CI does not contain the null value (i.e. the value indicating no difference), then the p-value will be smaller than 0.05.
note:
When comparing means between two groups, the value of no difference is 0
When comparing proportions using a ratio, the value of no difference is 1
crossing 1//
The 95% confidence interval is calculated as:
Lower bound: sample mean/prop – (1.96 x SE)
Upper bound: sample mean/prop + (1.96 x SE)
Calculate se
The standard error is therefore the variation in means from multiple sets of measurements.
Sd/ root(n)
Define determinants of health
Health determinants can be defined as:
(i) attributes, characteristics or exposures that increase or decrease the likelihood that a person will develop a disease or disorder.
(ii) a broad range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors that determine individual and population health.
Determinants of health include both risk factors and protective factors.
A risk factor is any factor which increases the likelihood of a person developing a health disorder or health condition.
Protective factors can reduce the likelihood of developing disease, or slow the progression and severity of the disease.
Determinants may be modifiable or non-modifiable.
Modifiable factors are those that can be changed, such as lifestyle, social and environmental factors.
Non-modifiable factors are those that cannot be changed, such as age, sex (biological, not gender), and ethnicity.
Defien environmental determinants of health
Environmental health addresses all the [physical], chemical, and biological factors [external]to a person, and all the related factors impacting [behaviours]. It encompasses
the [assessment ] and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing [disease ] and creating health-supportive
[environments].
Interpret p values and explan why they might be problematic
A statistical significance test is used to test the null hypothesis and a p-value is obtained from this test.
We reject the null hypothesis (H0) in favour of the alternative hypothesis (HA), if there is sufficient strength of evidence against the null hypothesis.
The strength of evidence against the null hypothesis is examined through formal statistical testing. Statistical tests provide a test statistic and a corresponding p-value.
A p-value is the probability of getting a result like the one observed if the null hypothesis is true.
In other words, it is the chance that the observed estimate in your sample could simply be a result of sampling variation.
If the p-value is large, there is a reasonable chance of getting the observed estimate if the null hypothesis was true.
For a p-value of 0.1, there is a 10% chance of getting the observed estimate if the null hypothesis was true. For a p-value of 0.001, there is a 0.1% chance of getting the observed estimate if the null hypothesis was true.
The smaller the p-value, the less likely it is that the observed estimate based on the study sample could be due to chance, and there is greater evidence that the null hypothesis can be rejected.
P-values are interpreted the same way no matter which actual statistical test was used.
Interpreting statistical significance from p-values is controversial. The general rules of thumb are:
p>0.1 is weak evidence against the null hypothesis
p<0.001 very strong evidence against the null hypothesis
p<0.05 generally reported as statistically significant - deemed small enough to justify rejection of the null hypothesis.
It is sufficient to display p-values to two significant figures (e.g. p=0.25, or p=0.015). It is common practice to display p-values less than in 1 in 1000 as p<0.001.
Define the study designs, their benefits and disadvantages
pidemiological study designs
Case series: describes the characteristics of a group of people who have the same disease or exposure. Ecological studies: Ecological studies collect data at the population level, for example measles rates in different countries. The disease and exposure of interest are measured in different populations and their relationship examined. Cross-sectional surveys: information is collected from a defined population at a single point in time providing a "snapshot" of the health status of a population. Often involves collecting information using questionnaire. Often referred to as prevalence surveys. Case-control studies: groups of diseased (cases) and non-diseased (controls) subjects are selected and compared. Cohort studies: groups of exposed and non-exposed individuals are followed over time to measure the development of disease. Intervention studies: study participants are randomly allocated to treatment and control groups and the outcomes in each group are compared.
n.b. cohort and case control are two sides of the same coin. cohort follows exposure to outcome, case controls follows outcome to expoure
List and describe the different incidences
- cumulate
- and incidence rates
List factors that influence prevalence and describe the relationship between incidence and prevalence
Describe and provide examples of the epidemiological triad
The epidemiological triad is the traditional model to understand infectious disease causation. It shows the interaction between:
an infectious agent, it's potential host, the transmission process (how the disease is spread) and how all of these may be influenced by the environment.
An epidemic may therefore result from:
A recent increase in amount or virulence of the agent, The recent introduction of the agent into a setting where it has not been before, An enhanced mode of transmission so that more susceptible persons are exposed, A change in the susceptibility of the host response to the agent, and/or Factors that increase host exposure or involve introduction through new portals of entry
host:age, sex, race, religion, cultural, family background, immune status, previous diseases, customs, occn, marital status
environment: temperature/climate, food, pollution, noise, water, altitude, crowding, housing, neighbourhood (vefctors, reservoirs etc)
agent: bio chem phys
e.g. Dengue fever
Agent: Flaviviridae, Flavivirus, Dengue virus
Host: Humans, intermediate hosts: mosquitos (Stegomyia (Aedes) aegypti, S. albopictus, S. polynesiensis, S. Scutellaris), monkeys in Malaysia and Africa
Environment: breeding grounds for mosquitoes like stagnant water, open gutters, centralized but unclean water supply, lack of access to supportive care, urbanization, deforestation, climate change
Define surveillance
Surveillance is defined as:
“The ongoing systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health data essential for planning, implementing and evaluating public health data”.1
The goal of public health surveillance is to provide information that can be used for action by public health personnel, government leaders, and the public.
Active, passive, surveillance and sentinel:
n passive surveillance, laboratories, doctors or other healthcare professionals regularly report cases of disease to the local or state health department. Notifiable diseases such as measles are reported under passive surveillance systems
In active surveillance, local or state health departments initiate the collection of specific cases of disease from laboratories, doctors or other healthcare professionals. An example of active surveillance is the screening of hospital patients on admission for nasal colonisation with MRSA.
Sentinal surveillance: health events are reported by health professionals who are part of a limited network that is deliberately selected to represent a geographic area or specific reporting group. It is used when high quality information is needed about a disease that can not be obtained through passive surveillance.
An example is the Victorian Sentinel Practice Influenza Network, which is a general practice-based program that provides information about the proportion of patients with influenza-like illness
Syndromic surveillance: focuses on one or more symptoms rather than a doctor diagnosed or laboratory confirmed disease. Syndromic surveillance is commonly used to improve early detection of outbreaks.
An example is the Flutracker system, that collects weekly information on flu-like symptoms therefore providing an early warning of increased activity before data on confirmed cases is available.
List examples of notifiable diseases
- campylobacterioriss
- salmonellosis
- measles
-anthax - Hepatities BCD
- Chlamydia
- Malaraia
- Legionelloiss
- CJD
- plague
Calculate incidence rate
The incidence rate of avoidable hospitalisation in Aboriginal children was twice that of non-Aboriginal children. The rate ratio is a relative comparison of the incidence rates in the two groups. The incidence rate in the group of interest is divided by the incidence in the comparison group. As it is a ratio, there are no units of measurement.
The correct answer is: 90.1/44.9 = 2.01
i.e no units
Define crude mortality rate, and distinguish with age adjusted mortality rate
The crude mortality rate reflects the mortality experience and age distribution of a community, whereas the age adjusted mortality rate eliminates any differences in the age distribution. If community A’s age-adjusted mortality rate is lower than its crude rate then that indicates that its population is older.
TRUE OR FALSE Cause-specific mortality rate uses mid year population in denominatior
TRUE
but maternal mortality, age-specific, and infant do not
Define neonatal mortality rate
The neonatal mortality rate is the probability of dying within the first 28 days of life per 1000 live births.
What is a key feature of incidence
Incidence is the number of new cases that occur during a specified period of time in a population at risk of developing the disease.
Describe period prevalence
Period prevalence is the proportion of existing cases in a defined population over a specified period of time.