Homework1

Medline, toxline, and dialog

are all examples of online databases.

Reasons for gender differences in mortailty may include

greater frequency of smoking among men

proportional mortality ratio

mortality due to a specific cause during a time period divided by the mortality due toa ll causes during the same time period times 100

disease registries

one of the widely used sources of statistical data on cancer

Major categories of descriptive epidemiologic variables are

person, place, and time

the concept of a standard metropolitan statistical area was introduced to create a unit that would

provide a distinction between metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities.

Descriptive Epidemiology has the following characteristics

provides the basis for planning and evaluation of health services, allows comparisons by age, sex, and race, and identifies problems to be studied by analytic methods.

The epidemic intelligence service is responsible for

racking down unusual disease outbreaks in the U.S. and foreign countries.

the best routinely available source of data regarding the incidence of respiratory disease outbreaks and other rapidly spreading conditions are

reports of absenteeism from work and school

Cyclic variations in the occurrence of pneumonia and influenza mortality may reflect

seasonal variations in cases of influenza.

national health survey consists of

several distinct programs conducted by the national center for health statistics.

studies of nativity and migration have reported that

some migrants have inadequate immunization status with respect to vaccine-preventable diseases.

vital statistics

the best source of information on adult and infant mortality

Crude death rate

the number of deaths in a given year/reference population (during mid-point of the year) times 100,000.

Incidence rate

the number of new cases of the disease over a time period divided by the total population (at risk) during the same time period times a multiplier.

When the duration of a disease becomes short and the incidence is high

the prevalence becomes similar to the incidence.

John Snow, in Snow on Cholera

was an early epidemiologist who used natural experiments

Point of prevalence

Defined as the number of persons ill divided by the total number in the group at one point.

Immunization against rubella

Primary Prevention Active

Nutritional counseling for pregnant women

Primary Prevention Active

Pasteurization of milk

Primary Prevention Passive

Screening for breast cancer

Secondary Prevention

Epidemiologic approach

Surveillance of a population

Halfway-houses

Tertiary Prevention

a registry is

a centralized database of information about a disease

descriptive epidemiology

aids in the creation of hypoteheses

vital statistics registration system in the U.S. collects data on all vital events including

births, deaths, and fetal deaths

cautious use of information from death certificates is warranted because

cause of death information may not be correct

Health disparities refers to

differences in health characteristics that exist among specific U.S. population groups.

the freedom of information act

exempts release of personal medical data

A morbidity survey of the general population

is most likely to be representative of the general health status of a population

marital status is an important descriptive epidemiologic variable because it

is theorized to be both a selective and a protective factor

In less developed regions, triangular population distributions are

linked to high mortality among younger age groups

Mortality rates by sex in the US generally show

male rates are greater than female.