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Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, aiming to control health problems. It encompasses descriptive epidemiology, which focuses on the patterns of health events by time, place, and person, and analytic epidemiology, which investigates the causes and factors influencing these events. The discipline has evolved from studying epidemics to addressing both infectious and non-infectious diseases, playing a crucial role in public health and clinical medicine.

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15 views24 pages

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, aiming to control health problems. It encompasses descriptive epidemiology, which focuses on the patterns of health events by time, place, and person, and analytic epidemiology, which investigates the causes and factors influencing these events. The discipline has evolved from studying epidemics to addressing both infectious and non-infectious diseases, playing a crucial role in public health and clinical medicine.

Uploaded by

rokrroxx
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Epidemiology

“The major factors that brought health to mankind were


epidemiology, sanitation, vaccination, refrigeration, and
screen windows.”
Epidemiology: Definition

Greek words

• Epi – “on or “upon


• demos – the population
• logos – the study of

• Epi + demos + logos   


 a study “that which befalls Man”
Epidemiology: Definition

• “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”.

(Last 1988)
Epidemiology: Definition

• “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”.

(Last 1988)
Epidemiology: Definition

• Distribution is concerned with:

Pattern & frequency of health events in a population

• Pattern refers to: the occurrence of health-related events by time, place and
person characteristics.

• Frequency refers to measurement of frequency of health-related


events(disease disability or death) and summarizing this information in the form
of rates and ratios.
Descriptive Epidemiology
What ? health-related states or events
Who ?  person
When ?  time
Epidemiology: Definition

• Determinants
Epidemiological methods are used as tools to search for
causes & other factors that influence the occurrence of
health related

Analytic Epidemiology
Epidemiology: Descriptive Epidemiology

• Pattern refers to: time, place and person


• Time characteristics:
 annual occurrence
 seasonal occurrence
 daily occurrence (during an epidemic)
 hourly occurrence (during an epidemic)
Epidemiology: Descriptive Epidemiology

• Pattern refers to: time, place and person


• Place characteristics:
 geographic variation
 urban-rural differences
 location of houses, worksites or
schools
Epidemiology: Descriptive Epidemiology

• Pattern refers to: time, place and person


• Personal characteristics:
 age
 race
 gender
 marital status
 Socioeconomic status
lifestyle behaviors
occupation
 environmental exposures
Epidemiology: Analytic Epidemiology

Determinants
Epidemiologic methods are used as tools to search for
causes & other factors that
influence the occurrence of health related
events  Analytic Epidemiology
Why ?
How ?
Relationship between exposure and outcome
Epidemiologic approaches

DESCRIPTIVEHealth and disease in the community


What? Who? When? Where?
What are the How many people Over what Where do the
health problems are affected? period of time? affected people
of the live, work or
community? What are the spend leisure
attributes of time?
What are the affected persons?
attributes of
these illnesses?

ANALYTIC Etiology, prognosis and program evaluation


Why? How?
What are the By what mechanism
causal agents? do they operate?

What factors
affect outcome?
Epidemiology: Epidemiologic Approaches

In very simple terms, the epidemiologist:


• Counts cases or health events, and describes them in
terms of time, place, and person;
• Divides the number of cases by an appropriate
denominator to calculate rates; and
• Compares these rates over time or for different groups
of people.
Epidemiology: Definition

Health-related states or events


include:
- communicable diseases
- non-communicable diseases
- injuries, birth defects
- maternal-child health
- occupational & environmental health
- behaviors related to health (exercise, seat-belt use
etc.)
THE ROOTS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT 1915 – till to date

GROWTH 1600-1905

ORIGIN
(HIPPOCRATIC TIMES ) 463 BC
Epidemiology: Origin

• HIPPOCRATES planted the seed & the tree of epidemiology


has taken its roots in 463 BC

• Described the distribution of diseases by season, age, climate


and personal behavior
Epidemiology: William Farr – Father of Vital
Statistics
• Collected & analyzed Britain’s morbidity & mortality
statistics.

• Examined effects of marital status, occupation, etc on


morbidity & mortality statistics
Epidemiology: John Snow- Father of Modern Epidemiology

• Identified mode of
transmission

• Incubation times

• Cause & effect

• Clinical observations of
cholera
Epidemiology: Doll & Hill (1947)

• Studied effect of smoking among a cohort of English


doctors

• Well designed epidemiological study

• Demonstrated cause (smoking) and effect (lung cancer)


Epidemiology: Scopes
• The scope have widened & changed over time

• Started of as a study of epidemics

• Till mid 19th century epidemiology was only a study of epidemics

• Then it became study of infectious diseases,

• later extended to study of non-infectious diseases

• Now has become a discipline that is beyond study of a diseases.


Epidemiology: Importance

• Clinical Medicine:

• Its knowledge is important to the clinician in making diagnosis,


treatment and prognosis

• Clinician requires background clinical epidemiological


information about a ds i.e incidence rates, sex and age
distribution…all these info points to the likely diagnosis while
at the same time excluding unlikely diagnosis
Epidemiology: Importance
Public Health:

• Epidemiology is the cornerstone of Public Health

• It contributed to eradication and control of communicable


diseases & to prevention of non communicable diseases

Achievements :
• control of infectious diseases –smallpox and childhood infection
by mass immunization,
• effective screening for breast and cervical cancer
Epidemiology: Importance

Public Health:
• Important in planning and evaluation of health services

• Used to assess the health services

• Data is used for needs assessment

• Evaluation of public health intervention programs

• Evaluation of disease trends by comparing rates over time


Epidemiology: Function

Epidemiology has major functions:

1.to describe patterns of health and disease within


populations

2.to interpret these differences

3.to apply our results to public health practice, and

4.to evaluate the effect of health-related interventions

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