exam 1 Flashcards
(87 cards)
fecundity rate
of births / # of birthing age women
What is Epidemiology?
Study of distributions and determinants of disease frequency in human populations and the application of this study to control health problems.
What are the epidemiological units of study?
Distribution includes Person (Age, Sex, SES), Place (where did the study take place), and Time (at what point in time?).
What are Determinants in Epidemiology?
Risk Factors that cause some people to get disease and some people not to get the disease.
Example: Running can be considered a causal factor for heart disease.
What is Disease Frequency?
The number of cases in a given population over a specific time period.
What is a Population in Epidemiology?
A group of people with common characteristics.
What is the Null Hypothesis?
claim that the effect does not exist
What are the branches of Public Health?
Policy, Scientific (epidemiology), Clinical, Activist.
What is Primary Prevention?
The actual prevention of a specific outcome (ex: vaccines).
What is Secondary Prevention?
Identifying an outcome at an early stage leading to improved outcomes (ex: mammograms).
Individual: this means changing the path / plan for treatment
Public health: Tuft’s screening program - even though it did not change treatment plans
What is Tertiary Prevention?
The limiting of the mortality, morbidity and/or disability after an outcome has occurred.
What is Diagnosis?
Problem.
What is Prognosis?
Outcome.
What is Causal Theory?
Assessing how x causes y.
What is a Necessary Cause?
Must be present for phenomenon to occur.
What is a Contributing Cause?
Risk factor that makes an outcome more or less likely.
What is a Sufficient Cause?
When all contributing and necessary causes needed to bring about a certain outcome in a given individual are present.
What is Rothman’s Causal Pie?
Method for visualizing necessary contributing and sufficient cause.
What are Hill’s Causal Criteria?
Strength of Association, Consistency of Association, Temporal Sequence of Association, Dose-Response Association, Analogy, Biological Plausibility.
What is an example of effective primary prevention related to measles?
In the 1950-60s, there were 450 deaths per year from measles, with people developing brain swelling. By the 2000s, the US was prepared to declare measles conquered, although vaccination efforts haven’t been entirely successful.
What did the HiB vaccine program achieve?
The HiB vaccine program basically eliminated deadly bacterial meningitis.
What did Jenner discover about cowpox and smallpox?
Jenner observed that milkmaids who had cowpox did not contract smallpox. This led to the development of inoculations against smallpox using cowpox, which is milder.
What are the 4 components of measuring disease frequency?
Populations, Cases of Disease (Numerator), Size of Population (Denominator), Time (must be explicit)
What is a Fixed Population?
A population of which membership is permanent (e.g., Veterans of Vietnam, people being born in 2002)