Epidemiology 1.1

What is the difference of an epidemiologists and direct health-care providers (clinicians)

The clinician is concerned about the health of an individual and usually focuses on treating and caring for the individual; the epidemiologist is concerned about the collective health of the people in a community or population and focuses on identifying the exposure or source that caused the illness. Therefore, the clinician and the epidemiologist have different responsibilities when faced with a person with illness.

Epidemiology

The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems. a scientific discipline with sound methods of scientific inquiry at its foundation. Epidemiology is data-driven and relies on a systematic and unbiased approach to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Basic epidemiologic methods tend to rely on careful observation and use of valid comparison groups to assess whether what was observed, such as the number of cases of disease in a particular area during a particular time period or the frequency of an exposure among persons with disease, differs from what might be expected. However, epidemiology also draws on methods from other scientific fields, including biostatistics and informatics, with biologic, economic, social, and behavioral sciences.

How do clinicians make the proper diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment for a patient?

They combine medical (scientific) knowledge with experience, clinical judgment, and understanding of the patient.

How do epidemiologist make the proper diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment for a patient?

They uses the scientific methods of descriptive and analytic epidemiology as well as experience, epidemiologic judgment, and understanding of local conditions in "diagnosing" the health of a community and proposing appropriate, practical, and acceptable public health interventions to control and prevent disease in the community.

Descriptive epidemiology

Characterizing health events by time, place, and person are activities of ___ ___

What was epidemiology originally focused on?

Epidemiology was originally focused exclusively on epidemics of communicable (contagious/infectious) diseases but was subsequently expanded to address endemic communicable diseases and non-communicable infectious diseases.

What was epidemiology originally focused on?

Epidemiology was originally focused exclusively on epidemics of communicable diseases but was subsequently expanded to address endemic communicable diseases and non-communicable infectious diseases.

Why is epidemiology often described as the basic science of public health?

First, epidemiology is a quantitative discipline that relies on a working knowledge of probability, statistics, and sound research methods. Second, epidemiology is a method of causal reasoning based on developing and testing hypotheses grounded in such scientific fields as biology, behavioral sciences, physics, and ergonomics to explain health-related behaviors, states, and events.

Determinant

Any factor, whether event, characteristic, or other definable entity, that brings about a CHANGE in a health condition or other defined characteristic.

Determinant

Any factor, whether event, characteristic, or other definable entity, that brings about a change in a health condition or other defined characteristic.

Frequency

Number of health events such as the number of cases of meningitis or diabetes in a population, and the relationship of that number to the size of the population. The resulting rate allows epidemiologists to compare disease occurrence across different populations.

Pattern

Occurrence of health-related events by time, place, and person. Time may be annual, seasonal, weekly, daily, hourly, weekday versus weekend, or any other breakdown of time that may influence disease or injury occurrence. Place include geographic variation, urban/rural differences, and location of work sites or schools. Personal characteristics include demographic factors which may be related to risk of illness, injury, or disability such as age, sex, marital status, and socioeconomic status, as well as behaviors and environmental exposures.