Epidemiology Flashcards
What are the major roles of epidemiology
- Monitoring infectious & non-infectious diseases
- Study natural history of diseases
- Investigations of disease risk factors
- Health care needs assessment
- Development of preventive programmes
- Evaluation of effectiveness of interventions
- Health service planning
What are the types of epidemiology studies
- Descriptive
- Analytic - case control, cohort
- Intervention
What are the measures of frequency
- Prevalence and incidence
What is prevalence
Measurement of all individuals affected by the disease within a particular period of time or point in time
Calculated by dividing the affected individuals by population. It is obtained from cross sectional studies or from registers
What is incidence
Measurement of the number of new individuals who contract a disease during a particular period of time
It is calculated by tracking the number of new cases or events during a specific period of time in a defined population and it is obtained from longitudinal studies or derived from registers
What are the properties of an ideal index
- Clear and not subjective
- Indicates treatment need
- Within ability of examiners
- Reproducible
- Not time consuming
- Acceptable to patient
- Amenable to statistical analysis
- Allows comparison with other studies
What are examples of dental indexes
DMFT = decayed missing and filled teeth
DMFS – decayed, missing and filled surfaces
