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Epidemiology

The study of the distribution and determinants of health, disease, and injury in human populations.

Two Basic Assumptions of Epidemiology

1. Human disease does not occur randomly. 2. Human disease has causal and preventive factors that can be identified.

Outbreak

A clear increase in the number of cases of a disease or health-related condition above normal baseline levels.

Descriptive Epidemiology

Describes the frequency and patterns of morbidity and mortality by person, place, and time.

Analytic Epidemiology

Focuses on the determinants of disease, asking why or how (causes), testing hypotheses from descriptive studies.

Clinical Epidemiology

Patient-oriented aspect of epidemiology that aids decision-making about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease.

The Pyramid/Iceberg of Disease

A model illustrating different states of disease within a population, ranging from diagnosed and controlled cases to those free of risk factors.

Framingham Heart Study (1948)

A study initiated to understand the rise of cardiovascular disease in the US and coined the term 'risk factors'.

Bradford-Hill Criteria

A checklist developed to assess the causality of an association including strength, plausibility, consistency, coherence, specificity, experimental evidence, temporality, analogy, and biological gradient.

Hippocrates

One of the first to base conclusions on observations regarding health in individuals and populations.

John Snow

Widely considered the father of modern epidemiology for his work on cholera transmission through contaminated water.

Edward Jenner

Performed the first smallpox immunizations using cowpox vaccine, paving the way for preventive medicine.