Module 2 Public Health 101

Public Health

Upstream

prevention portion of public health

Downstream

treating the outcome we failed to prevent

Five Core Public Health Disciplines

Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Environmental Health Science, Health Policy and Management, Social and Behavioral Science

Epidemiology

the study of the cause, distribution, and control of disease in populations

P in P.E.R.I.E

Problem

First E in P.E.R.I.E

Etiology (What is/are the contributory causes)

R in P.E.R.I.E

Recommendation

I in P.E.R.I.E

Implementation

Second E in P.E.R.I.E

Evaluation

Morbidity

Disability

Mortality

Death

Case Fatality Rate Meaning

estimates the chance of dying from the disease

Case Fatality Rate Equation

#of deaths due to the disease/ # of people living with the disease

Incidence Rate Meaning

measures the chances of developing disease over a period of time

Incidence Rate Equation

#of new cases in a year/ # of people in the at risk population

Prevalence Rate Meaning

point in time proportion of people with the disease at the time of measurement

Prevalence Rate Equation

#of people living with the disease/ # of people at risk

The distribution of disease

Who, When, Where

What do epidemiologists do to find patterns/associations in the frequency of disease

Person, Place, Time

Group Associations

a hypothesis that requires investigation at the individual level

Hypothesis Generation

Group Association

Requirement #1

Individual Association

Requirement #2

Cause precedes effect

Requirement #3

Altering the cause alters the effect

If the Requirements don’t establish contributory cause

strength of relationship, dose-response relationship, consistency of relationship, biological plausibility.

Sufficient Cause

if the cause is present, the disease will occur.

Necessary Cause

if the cause is present, the disease doesn’t always occur.