Summary: Online Epidemiology And Statistics Course

Read the summary and the most important questions on Online Epidemiology and Statistics course

• 1 Epidemiology: an introduction

• 1.1 What is Epidemiology

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• Vanaf hier Greg Martin's Youtube video uitleg: What does epidemiology revolve around?

  Measuring 2 things: distribution & causation

• What does distibution of exposures entail?

  Anything that can cause or prevent disease and immunity. E.g environmental hazards or social determinants of health

• What does causation as the second issue of epidemiology entail?

  Is the extent to which the exposures do or don't translate into changes in outcomes/health status of people in a population. 
  
  Is important because confounders, bias etc can explain a correlation between 2 variables that do not neccesarily indicate a causation between the variables.

• So in conclusion, what is epidemiology?

  The science that considers the demograhpic, geographic and temporal distribution of exposures and outcomes and the causative relationship between them.

• 1.2 Why Epidemiology

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• What does a classical epidemiological investigation consist of?

  1. identifying a rare occurrence of a disease (or an unexpected increase in the occurrence of a more common disease)
  2. obtaining detailed information from those affected
  3. trying to establish a common link that points towards a common exposure
  4. designing appropriate studies to investigate further

• What can  epidemiological investigations be about?

  They go beyond "classical" infectious diseases. You can also think of non-infectious diseases (e.g. hypertension, obesity), or of injuries.  And other types of exposure like environmental factors or the health risks posed by natural disasters.

• Are epidemiology and public health closely related?

  Yes, epidemiology and public health are closely related. You can say that epidemiology provides the toolbox to conduct scientific studies into the occurrence and determinants of health states (more than just disease) and their relationship, while public health applies the findings and insights from this scientific endeavor to manage and control health problems within a population.

• 1.3 Study Design

• Which requirements do epidemiological study designs fulfill?

  To measuring the occurrence of health events in a population, a strategy is needed in which
  

  • these events can be measured adequately
  • researchers have access to the population of interest
  • the obtained information provides a good estimation of the determinant-outcome relationship

• 1.4 Measures of frequency

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• What is the core concept of epidemiology?

  To count cases. In other words, we need to establish/demonstrate the number of events occurring in the population of interest.

• Where are measures or frequency used?

  Measures or frequency are used in descriptive epidemiology. Although this part of epidemiology does not focus on hypothesis testing, it provides a powerful tool in summarising available data that can form the basis for formulating hypotheses.