Lecture 3: Epidemiology: How do we measure disease? Flashcards

1
Q

What is epidemiology?

A

Science of DISTRIBUTION and FREQUENCY of disease

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2
Q

What does Distribution of disease involve?

A
  • Person
  • Place
  • Time
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3
Q

What does frequency of disease involve?

A

Incidence and Prevalence

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4
Q

What can epidemiology do

A

DEPC:
Describe, explain, predict, control

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5
Q

Describe in DEPC

A

Describe health of a population

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6
Q

Explain in DEPC

A

Explain etiology (cause) of disease

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7
Q

Predict in DEPC

A

Predict occurrence of disease

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8
Q

Control in DEPC

A

Control distribution of disease

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9
Q

What are the assumptions of epidemiology?

A
  1. Disease does not occur randomly
  2. Disease has causal and preventative factors that we can
    identify through systematic investigation of different
    people at different places or times
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10
Q

What are the 3 types of epidemiology?

A
  • Descriptive
  • Analytic
  • Experimental
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11
Q

What is the goal of descriptive epidemiology?

A

To examine patterns of disease, health behaviours)

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12
Q

What is the goal of analytic epidemiology

A

To evaluate relationships between risk/protective factors and disease

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13
Q

What is the goal of experimental epidemiology?

A

To evaluate effect of treatment/intervention on disease

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14
Q

What is the foundation for all the types of epidemiology?

A

Foundation for all is being able to MEASURE PATTERNS (OCCURRENCE) OF DISEASE

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15
Q

What are the types of measures of disease occurrence?

A
  • Rank
  • Count(s)
  • Ratio
    - Proportion
    - Rate
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16
Q

What is the key consideration for count, ratio, proportion, and rate?

A

Who, what is in numerator and/or denominator

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17
Q

What does rank measure?

A

Measures the order of disease
occurrence

ex. Arthritis and other rheumatic
conditions are a leading cause of
work disability among US adults
* Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the US

18
Q

What does count measure?

A

Measure(s) the number of
persons who have a given
disease (no denominator)

Ex. Number of female(s) with disease
X (red)

19
Q

What is a ratio? What does it allow for?

A

The quotient of two numbers

  • Numerator not necessarily included in denominator (no specific relationship between numerator and denominator)
  • Allows comparison of quantities of different nature
  • Ex. male to female ratio
20
Q

Measures of association in epidemiologic students are?

A

Ratios
* Relative risk (RR) (or Rate ratio or Risk ratio)
* Odds ratio (OR)

21
Q

What is a proportion?

A
  • The quotient of 2 numbers
  • Numerator is necessarily included in the denominator
  • Expressed as a fraction, decimal, or percentages
22
Q

What is rate?

A
  • The quotient of two numbers
  • Numerator
    • Number of ‘events’ (new cases
      of disease) observed for a given
      time
  • Denominator
  • Population in which events occur
  • Includes time
  • Ex. 1/10 = 0.1 per year
  • 5-year cancer survival rate
  • Ratio of people who are alive for 5
    years after cancer diagnosis to
    people in the general population
    who are alive over the same 5 year
    interval
23
Q

What is prevalence?

A
  • All individuals affected by disease at a particular time
  • “Refer to individuals as “prevalent cases” or “active cases”
24
Q

What is Incidence?

A
  • New individuals with a disease during a particular period of time
  • Refer to individuals as “incident cases” or “new cases”
25
Q

Prevalence (a proportion) Definition

A

Proportion of a population affected by a disease at a specific time

Prevalence = Number of individuals with disease at specific time/Number of individuals in population

*Usually expressed as a percentage

26
Q

What is point prevalence?

A

Proportion of a population affected by a disease at a point in time (e.g., prevalence of type 2 diabetes on December 31, 2020

27
Q

What is period prevalence?

A

Proportion of a population affected by a disease during a certain period of time (e.g., prevalence of diabetes in 2020)

28
Q

What is the definition of Incidence?

A

The number of new cases of a disease that develop over
time

29
Q

What is Incidence proportion

A
  • Cumulative incidence

Incidence proportion= Number of new cases of disease over period of time/Number of individuals at risk for disease at beginning of time period

  • Ex. 4/10 = 0.4
    40% (expressed as percentage) OR
    = 4 cases per 10 population during 5 year period
    = 0.8 cases per 10 population per year
    = 8 cases per 100 per year
30
Q

What is incidence rate?

A
  • Incidence density

Incidence rate = Number of new cases of disease over period of time/𝚺 person-time

31
Q

What does person-time from incidence rate mean?

A

Time each person was observed

Consider:
* 1 person at risk of a disease observed for 1 year = 1 person-year
* 1 person at risk of a disease observed for 1 month = 1 person-month
* Can be presented in many different ways:
* 10 cases per 1000 person-years
* 1 case per 100 person-years
* 0.1 cases per 10 person-years
* 0.01 cases per 1 person-year

32
Q

Incidence proportion: Numerator

A
  • New cases
33
Q

Incidence proportion: Denominator:

A

Number of individuals at beginning of period

34
Q

Incidence proportion: Time period

A
  • Specified but not included in calculation
35
Q

Incidence rate: Numerator

A

New cases

36
Q

Incidence rate: Denominator

A

Person-time

37
Q

Incidence rate time

A

Incorporates time directly into denominator

38
Q

Prevalence “Disease Burden”

A
  • Measure population disease status
  • Help plan health care delivery
  • Indicate groups who should be targeted
39
Q

Incidence “Disease Risk”

A
  • Assess frequency of disease onset
  • Estimate risk of disease development
  • Study risk factors for disease
  • Evaluate preventive interventions
40
Q
A