Role of Epidemiology

Question 1

Role of epidemiology

Answer 1

Study the past and present health issues of individuals, groups and societies to prevent injury, disease, illness and death.

Question 2

Epidemiology also helps government + non-government organisations to:

Answer 2

• Identify risk factors
• Implement protective behaviours

Question 3

Role of epidemiology example

Answer 3

Through the study of epidemiology, medical researchers identified skin cancer as a priority health issue in Australia. This led to the introduction of health promotion to reduce the number of Australians dying from melanoma.

Question 4

Epidemiologists collect numerical data on illnesses, diseases, injuries and death within populations so that they can:

Answer 4

• identify the number of deaths from a particular cause
• calculate the rate of diseases within a population group
• identify specific sub-groups within the population who experience higher rates of a disease or health inequities
• compare and identify inequalities in health as experienced among members of the population
• provide tangible evidence that health promotion initiatives are being effective
• provide information that allows governments to allocate resources on a ‘needs basis’ and target certain health areas