epidemiology : MC6 - disease risk factors

what are the 4 epidemiologic factors that often contribute to an outbreak of a disease ?

- role of the host

- agent or disease-causing organism

- environmental circumstances that diseases needs

- time-related issues

in the epidemiology triangle what does the host impact ?

exposure susceptibility and response

in the epidemiology triangle what does the environment impact ?

opportunity for exposure

in the advanced model of the triangle of epidemiology what replaces the term "infectious agent" ?

causative factors

what is a DALY ?

the sum of the years of life lost to due premature mortality / the years lived with disability due to prevalent cases of disease

what 2 populations do we most compare in disease risk factors ?

low-mid income countries VS high income countries

define risk of disease

probability of an individual becoming newly diseased

define risk factor

characteristic, condition, behaviour that increases the likelihood of getting disease/injury

do risk factors often coexist and interact with one another ?

yes

what are the 5 categories of risk factors ?

- behavioural

- physiological

- demographic

- environmental

- genetic

what is a comparison group used for ?

defining a relative risk / risk ratio

what does it mean when the relative risk is above 1 ?

the factor being investigated increases risk

what does it mean when the relative risk is below 1 ?

the factor being investigated reduces risk (protective factor)

what are behavioural risk factors ?

'actions' the individual has chosen to take

what are physiological risk factors ?

those relating to an individual's body or biology

what are demographic risk factors ?

those that relate to overall population

what are environmental risk factors ?

social, economic, cultural, political, physical, chemical, biological, etc factors

what are genetic risk factors ?

based on individual's genes

what risk factor is "smoking tobacco" ?

behavioural risk factor

what risk factor is "being overweight" ?

physiological risk factor

what risk factor is "gender" ?

demographic risk factor

what risk factor is "air pollution" ?

environmental risk factor

what risk factor is "individual's genes" ?

genetic risk factor

what is the SCORE project ?

Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation - project from European society of cardiology

what is the aim of the SCORE project ?

the development of risk charts to predict the 10-year risk of fatal cardiovascular disease based on the individual's age, sex, smoking, systolic blood pressure and cholesterol

what risk factors in the individual's is the SCORE project based on ?

age

sex

smoking

systolic blood pressure

cholesterol