Topic 3 - Practical Applications of Epidemiology Flashcards
What are the 2 categories for the 7 uses for epidemiology? What are the 7 uses?
Health Status and Health Services:
1. Study history of the health of populations
2. Diagnose the health of the community
3. Examine the working of health services
Disease Etiology:
1. Estimate the individual risks and chances of
avoiding them
2. Identify syndromes
3. Complete the clinical picture
4. Search for causes of health and disease
What are 3 details about health status and health services?
Describing the occurrence of disease in
the community
Planning for allocation of resources: public health practitioners and administrators
Evaluating programs, e.g., public health
service programs
What are 2 details about disease etiology?
Epidemiologists continue to search for
clues as to the nature of disease
Knowledge that is acquired may be helpful
in efforts to prevent the occurrence
What is the historical use of epidemiology? Give an example.
Refers to the study of past and future
trends in health and illness
For example: secular trends (changes in
disease frequency over time)
What are examples of trends?
Chronic diseases have replaced acute infectious diseases as the major causes of morbidity and mortality
2009: the leading causes of U.S. deaths were heart disease, cancer, and chronic lower respiratory disease
Increases were reported for Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, and hypertension
2017: leading causes of U.S. deaths are heart disease, cancer, and accidents
What are the 3 factors affecting reliability of observed changed?
Lack of comparability over time due to altered diagnostic criteria
Aging of the general population
Changes in the fatal course of the condition
What are the 4 trends of disorders? Give examples of disorders for each trend.
Disappearing: smallpox, polio, measles
Residual: STIs, tobacco use, infant mortality
New epidemic: lung cancer, HIV/AIDS, obesity
Persisting: cancer (some forms), mental disorders, cerebrovascular diseases
Give 2 details about and examples of disappearing disorders.
This category refers to conditions that were
once common but are no longer present in
epidemic form.
Examples include smallpox, poliomyelitis,
and measles.
Brought under control by immunizations,
improvement in sanitary conditions, and the
use of antibiotics and other medications led
to eradication of these diseases
Give 2 details about and examples of residual disorders.
Conditions for which the key contributing factors are largely known
Methods of control not implemented effectively
Examples: STDs, perinatal and infant mortality among low SES persons, problems associated with alcohol and tobacco use
Give 1 detail about and examples of persisting disorders.
Diseases for which there is no effective
method of prevention or no known cure
Examples: certain types of cancer and
mental disorders
Give 2 details about and examples of new epidemic disorders.
Diseases that are increasing in frequency
The emergence of new epidemics of
diseases may be a result of increased life
expectancy of the population, new
environmental exposures, or changes in
lifestyle, diet, and other practices
Examples: lung cancer, AIDS, Obesity,
Type 2 diabetes
What are population dynamics? What are the 2 types of populations?
Denotes changes in the demographic
structure of populations associated
with such factors as births and deaths
and immigration and emigration
Two types of populations: fixed populations and dynamic populations
What is a fixed population? Give examples.
Fixed population: adds no new members and, as a result, decreases in size due to deaths only
Examples: survivors of the 9-11 terrorist
attack in New York, residents of New
Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and
persons who had a medical procedure
such as hip replacement
What is a dynamic population? Give examples.
Dynamic population: adds new members through immigration and births or loses members through emigration and deaths
Example: the population of a country,
city, or state in the United States
What are the 3 influences on population size?
- Births
- Deaths
- Migration
What is the relationship between the three influences and a population that is in a steady state?
The three factors do not contribute to net
increases or decreases in the number of
persons (i.e., the number of members
exiting for various reasons equals the
number entering)
What is the relationship between the three influences and a population that is increasing in size?
The number of persons immigrating plus
the number of births exceeds the
number of persons emigrating plus the
number of deaths
What is the relationship between the three influences and a population that is decreasing in size?
The number of persons emigrating plus
the number of deaths exceeds the
number of persons immigrating plus the
number of births
What is a demographic transition? Give examples of what could cause it.
Shift from high birth and death rates found
in agrarian societies to lower birth and
death rates found in developed countries.
A decline in the death rate attributed to in
part to improvement in general hygienic
and social conditions
Industrialization and urbanization contribute to a decline in birth rate
What is an epidemiological transition?
Shift in the pattern of morbidity and
mortality from infectious and communicable diseases to chronic, degenerative diseases
How does epidemiology affect the health of the community?
Describes the overall health of a particular community
The resulting description may then provide a key to the types of problems requiring attention
Determines the need for specific health services
What descriptive variables are needed for epidemiology when describing the health of the community?
Demographic and social variables
Variables related to community infrastructure
Health-related outcome variables
Environmental variables
What are examples of demographic and social variables?
Elderly women have unique health needs (screening and interventions for osteoporosis, risk of falling… associated with aging)
Lower income/employment opportunities lack health insurance and access to health care
Low education (vs. high): less aware of dietary and exercise practices that promote good health
Service employment (vs. professional occupations): does not carry full range of health benefits
Some health outcomes more common in one racial/ethnic group, e.g., diabetes among Latinos
Adherents of some religious denominations may adopt lifestyle and dietary practices that may affect the community health profile
What are examples of variables related to community infrastructure?
SES of community relate to such availability and ability to pay for healthcare services
When state and federal funding are cut or reduced, wealthy communities have the means of back fill lost revenue with local funding resources, but the poorer areas
may not have such option
Safe and clean housing
Toxic lead and dangerous environmental exposures in older housing
American Housing Survey (quality of housing)
Community policing programs (reinforce social stability by reducing violent crime)
Employment opportunities
