Epidemiology and Study Design Vocabulary

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms extracted from lecture notes on epidemiology and study design.

Epidemiology

Study of the occurrence of disease in populations.

Incidence

Number of new disease events occurring in a population over a period of time.

Prevalence

Number of existing cases of a disease in a population at a specific point in time.

Incidence Rate

A measure of disease occurrence that counts events forward from a starting point over a period of time.

Prevalence Rate

A measure where the number of people with a disease are counted at one point in time.

Time

Always included in the calculation of incidence.

Time (in Prevalence)

Not explicitly included in the calculation of prevalence, though the point in time of measurement must be stated.

Cohort Study

A study design where participants are allocated into groups by measuring exposures and followed over time to count disease events.

Cross-Sectional Study

A study design where exposure and outcome are measured at the same point in time.

Categorical measure

Measure of disease where 'yes/no' categories are recorded.

Numerical measure

Measure of disease that uses numbers.

E

Represented as N divided by D (either over a period or point in time)

N

Number of dis-ease

D - g or p

Groups or populations

T

Time

P

Participants

E

Exposure

Comp

Comparison

O

Outcome

EGO

Exposure Group Occurrence

CGO

Comparison Group Occurrence