Week 2
Chapter 4
Epidemiology of
Health and Illness
Epidemiology
- The study of the distribution and the determinants of states of health and illness in human populations
- Epidemiological model or triangle
- Host
- Agent
- Environment
Scope of Epidemiology
- Demographic changes
- Patterns of disease
- Methods of control and prevention of health problems
- Wellness focus
The Basis for the
Epidemiological Process
Identifying health problems and needs
Collecting and analyzing data to identify risk factors
Planning, implementing, and evaluating methods for prevention and control
The Epidemiological, Research, and Nursing Processes
- Similarities include:
- Defining the problem
- Gathering data
- Analyzing the data
- Evaluating the data
Natural History of Disease
- Prepathogenesis period
- Pathogenesis period
- Levels of prevention
- Primary prevention
- Secondary prevention
- Tertiary prevention
Descriptive Epidemiology
- Focuses on the frequency and distribution of states of health within a population:
- Person
- Place
- Time
Use of Rates
- Incidence rates
- Mortality
- Prevalence rates
- Morbidity
- Crude rates
- Specific rates
- Adjusted rates
Sources of Data
- Census data
- Vital statistics
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
- National Center for Health Statistics
Person, Place, and Time
- Who develops the health problem
- Where the rates of the health problem are the highest and lowest can be determined by examining the characteristics of place
- When health problems occur
- Short-term
- Seasonal or cyclical
- Long-term
Analytic Epidemiology
- Cross-sectional studies
- Retrospective (case-control) studies
- Prospective studies
- Intervention (experimental) studies