Epidemiology Fundamentals Quiz

Course Information

• Course: PHAR 658 - Foundations of Epidemiology I
• Chapter: Merrill Chapter 1
• Date: January 14, 2025
• Instructor: Preeti Pushpalata Zanwar, PhD, MPH, MS

Objectives

• Define epidemiology and understand the foundational vocabulary
• Define descriptive and analytic epidemiology
• Identify key activities performed in epidemiology
• Explain the role of epidemiology in public health practice and decision-making

What is Health?

• The absence of illness
• Six dimensions of health

Six Dimensions of Health

• Physical: Ability of the body to function properly, including physical fitness and daily activities
• Social: Ability to form satisfying relationships, interact with social institutions, and understand societal norms
• Mental: Ability to think clearly, reason objectively, and act appropriately
• Emotional: Ability to cope, adapt, and adjust; self-efficacy and self-esteem
• Spiritual: Feeling as part of a greater spectrum of existence; personal beliefs and choices
• Environmental: External factors (surroundings, occupation) and internal factors (genetics)

What is Public Health?

• Public health is the science and art of promoting health and extending life for the population
• Public health focuses on threats to health within a population (group sharing characteristics)
• The mission of public health is to ensure conditions that promote all six dimensions of health in the general population

What is a Population?

• A grouping of individuals sharing one or more observable or observed characteristics
• Data can be collected and evaluated from populations with shared attributes
• Examples of population characteristics include social, economic, family (marriage/divorce), work/labor force, and geographic factors

Public Health and Epidemiology

• Epidemiology is a central element of public health, viewed as its foundation due to its significant role
• Other important considerations within public health include biostatistics and health services

What is Epidemiology?

• Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in human populations
• Epidemiology involves the application of the study to help prevent and manage health issues

Key Terms in Epidemiology

• Health-related states or events: Diseases (like cholera, influenza, pneumonia), mental illness, and conditions like physical activity, nutrition, environmental exposures, seat belt use, and health services provision/usage
• Events: Injury, drug abuse, and suicide

Why is Epidemiology the Foundation of Public Health?

• Epidemiology is central to the three main public health roles (functions):
  1. Assessing and monitoring communities and populations at risk for identifying health problems and priorities
  2. Developing public policies to address local/national health issues and priorities
  3. Ensuring all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective care that includes health promotion, disease prevention, and evaluation

Epidemiology and the Scientific Method

• Epidemiology utilizes the scientific method to describe and analyze health-related states or events

Scientific Method Components

• Appropriate study designs
• Statistical techniques for investigation and knowledge acquisition
• Identifying the health problem
• Developing hypotheses
• Statistical analysis
• Interpretation
• Dissemination of information

Study Designs in Epidemiology

• Descriptive epidemiology: Investigates who, what, when, and where via study designs
• Analytic epidemiology: Explores why and how via study designs

Importance of Descriptive Epidemiology

• Characterizes the distribution of health-related events and states
• Examines events based on person, place, time, and clinical criteria

Importance of Analytic Epidemiology

• Identifies and quantifies associations
• Tests hypotheses and supports causal statements
• Explains why and how health-related events occur

Selected Activities in Epidemiology

• Identifying risk factors for disease, injury, and death
• Describing the natural history of diseases
• Identifying those at highest risk of disease
• Identifying the greatest points of public health concern
• Monitoring health-related events over time
• Evaluating prevention and treatment programs' efficacy and effectiveness
• Providing information for health planning and decision-making
• Assisting in public health programs
• Acting as a resource person
• Communicating public health information

Selected Types of Epidemiologic Information

• Public health assessment
• Causes of disease
• Completing the clinical picture, or understanding the full scope of a condition
• Program evaluation, including efficacy (the ability to achieve a desired effect in those who participate in a program versus those who don't) and effectiveness (the ability to produce benefits in individuals who are offered the program)

Questions that Need Epidemiology

• Diagnosis: Myalgic encephalitis, prostate-specific antigen as a cancer test
• Causes: Stroke causes, obesity/metabolic syndrome
• Treatment: Best treatment options for specific conditions, surgical effectiveness
• Prognosis: Recurrence of heart attack/disease, prosthesis longevity
• Health Promotion & Protection: Harm of current school meals, effectiveness of public smoking bans
• Health and Disease Surveillance: International differences in suicide rates, future pandemics
• Health Inequalities: Why disparities in life expectancy exist between workers, effect of health services on health inequalities

Prevalence of Self-Reported Obesity (US Adults) via Map Data (2011, 2017)

• This is visual/map data providing regional trends in self-reported obesity in US adults from 2011 to 2017. Detailed values are visual, not in a text format.