Introduction to Epidemiology

cluster

group of cases in a specific time and place that might be more than expected
- precursor to an outbreak/epidemic

what are the three p's of public health?

preservation, promotion, and prevention

endemic

disease or condition present among a population at all times
ex: HIV/AIDS

rate

number of disease cases occuring during a specific period; dependent on the size of the population during that period

sporadic level of disease occurance

occasional cases occuring at irregular intervals

hyperendemic level of disease occurance

persistently HIGH level of occurance

endemic level of disease occurance

persistent occurance with a low to moderate level

epidemiology

"the science which deals with what falls opon people" or in other words, the study of health-related states among SPECIFIED POPULATIONS

T/F: health differences across groups are as important to population health outcomes and determinants as are differences between any two individuals

T

what is population health?

the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group
- focuses on the health of the ENTIRE GROUP

distribution factors of disease

when, where, who
- descriptive factors
ex: marking on a map the residences of all children born with birth defects within two miles of a hazardous waste site

determinant factors of disease

why and how
- analytic factors
ex: comparing food histories of those with staphylococcus aureus to those without

what are health-related states or events?

health status, diseases, death, other implications of disease, causes of death

what are the epidemiology purposes in public health?

discover - the agent or host that affects health
determine - relative importance of causes of disease/death
identify - segments of population that are most at risk
evaluate - effectiveness of health programs at improving health
apply - apply knowledge gained from studies (ex: recommending that someone receives a medicine)

what happened in the 1930's and 1940's in regards to epidemiology?

noninfectious diseases (such as behaviors) were given attention for the first time

in regards to epidemiology, what happened during the 1960's and 1970's?

health workers applied epidemiologic methods to eradicate naturally occuring smallpox worldwide

in the 1980's, epidemiology was extended to the studies of......

injuries and violence

these are common sources of surveillance data

morbidity and mortality reports

what is the difference between descriptive and analytic epidemiology?

descriptive - describes the occurance of disease (when, where, who was affected?)

analytic - uses observational or experimental methods to determine how and why a certain population was impacted

what is the prevalence of a disease?

the proportion of persons in a population who have a particular disease at a specified point in time
- can be viewed as "a pool of disease in a population"
- includes both new and preexisting cases at a specified time

what is the difference between point prevalence and period prevalence?

point prevalence refers to the prevalence at a particular point in time (such as a specific date), while period prevalence refers to an interval of time

what is incidence?

the occurence of new cases of disease/injury in a population over a specified period of time
- can also be described as the "input flow of new cases in a population pool"

how can prevalence cases leave the "prevalence pool?"

recovery, death, or migration out of the population

what is risk?

the proportion of an at-risk population that develops a specific health condition within a specified amount of time

what is infectivity?

the ability to infect

what is pathogenicity?

the ability to cause disease

what is virulence?

the ability to cause death

what is the basic idea describing individual health? what clinical assumptions can be made?

individuals are responsible for their own health. clinicians examine the individual and compare them against predetermined standards, focusing on one disease at a time

what is the basic idea surrounding population health?

diseases are distributed unevenly among populations due to reasons out of individual's controls. some populations are healthier than others

what is the difference between a clinical vs. an epidemiology approach?

a clinical approach involves treating and caring for an individual while an an epidemiological approach involves identifying disease exposures and determining the number of other infected individuals