han 452 quiz 1 Flashcards
(22 cards)
epidemiology
the study of the distributions and determinants of health-related states among specific populations and the applications of that study to the control of health problems
qualitative data
Purpose: understand a phenomenon
Sample: purposive; small sample size
Data: docs, groups, interviews, field investigation (speaking to patients)
Designs: phenomenological, grounded theory, ethnograph, case study, etc.
quantitative data
Purpose: discover a causal relationship between variables
Sample: random, large sample size
Data: tests, surveys, questionnaires (definitive)
Designs: experimental, quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal, etc)
distribution
Frequency: number of health events (disease cases) - how many people are sick?
Pattern: pattern by time, place, and person
Ex: Mark which residence halls on a map had reported individuals with influenza; tabulate the frequency of clinical signs, symptoms and laboratory findings
Hint/Key words:
Map
Graph
Frequency
determinants
Causes and other factors that influence the occurrence of disease and other health related events
Ex: compare food intake of persons who ate at a restaurant and got food poisoning versus those who are there and did NOT get food poisoning
Hint: Comparing those who are sick from something, and those who are healthy
application
Goal: to prevent disease in the community
Ex: recommend hospital staff to receive their influenza vaccination or wear a mask as influenza cases increase
John Graunt
published a landmark analysis of mortality data, Bills of Mortality
First to quantify patterns of birth, death, and disease
william farr
The father of modern vital statistics and surveillance
Reported findings to health authorities and the general public
John Snow
*father of epidemiology
Health problem: cholera outbreak in london
Marked where people with cholera lived/worked
Marked the water pumps - compared cholera outbreak to the pumps
**used spot mapping
Descriptive epidemiology
describing an outbreak in terms of person, place, time
Analytical epidemiology
measures the association between an exposure and disease
19th and 20th century epidemiology
1930s and 1940s - began to research noninfectious diseases (ebola and aids)
1960s and 1970s - global smallpox eradication program
1980s - extended to studies of injuries and violence
1990s and 2001 - natural transmission of infection but also spread through biological warfare and bioterrorism
Ex: doll and hill - linked lung cancer to smoking
Assessing the community’s health
use of data to identify baselines, to set health goals for the nation and monitor progress towards these goals
Making individual decisions
use of epidemiologic information to make daily decisions about health
Completing the clinical picture
epidemiologists assist physicians properly diagnosing illness
Searching for causes
provides substantial evidence to link exposure and illness and effect action
Public health surveillance
Ongoing, systematic collection of data to guide decision making and action
Goal: to portray patterns of disease to control spread and implement prevention measures
Ex: reviewing reports of test results for chlamydia from public health clinics
Passive surveillance
looking at numbers and recording who is sick (trends, lists)
Active surveillance
seeking out cases because you know they are coming (ex: COVID spread)
Field investigations
AKA: “shoe leather epidemiology” - interviewing people
Goal: To understand the extent of an outbreak, identify affected individuals and identify the cause
Ex: interviewing people infected with chlamydia to identify their sex partners
Analytic studies
Evaluate the credibility of a hypothesis generated from surveillance and field investigation
Comparative tables and statistical analysis between subjects
Ex: comparing people with symptomatic versus asymptomatic chlamydia infection to identify predictors
