2. o Epidemiology is a field of medical sciences that tries to
analyze many aspects of health like the following:
o The spread of a certain illness in a community.
o How the disease is progressing and changing
overtime?
o How such illness is affecting the economy and/or
society of that community?
o Epidemiology tries to assess the causes and distribution
of a disease in a population using scientific study and
analysis of the data collected.
Introduction
3. o Epidemiology’s history stretches back to the era of
Hippocrates where he explained the occurrence of
diseases on rational basis rather than superstition.
o Since then, the field evolved and progressed
exponentially.
o In 1800’s, William Farr analyzed and systematically
collected UK’s mortality statistics which made him
“the father of modern vital statistics and surveillance.”
To this day, some of his practices are still used.
o In 1850’s, The anesthesiologist John Snow made an
inquiry to the causes and the spread of cholera in
England. He, later, was named “the father of
epidemiology.”
History
4. • Information presented
by epidemiological
analysis has many
useful purposes.
• These info is used by
many professionals
and officials.
How is
Epidemiology
Used?
Examining the Health of the Community
Health officials use epidemiological findings and data establish policy
decisions regarding providing or reviewing health services by looking at
different data results relating to the health of the local population (e.g.,
which population at high risk?).
Making Personal Life Decisions
People or individuals regularly use epidemiological findings to make personal
decisions regarding their life. For example, in 1950s, epidemiologists noted
that smoking increases the chance of having a lung cancer. This finding has
influenced many people to leave or to not start smoking.
Investigating the Causes of a Disease
Epidemiological data or reports requested by health professionals can help
them reach some conclusions regarding the factors that caused a particular
disease.
Mapping the History of a Disease in a Society
Information and data provided by epidemiologists can be helpful in tracking
the occurrence and the duration of a disease in a specific community.
5. Statistics &
Epidemiology
o Like many sciences that process and work with data,
epidemiology relies on many statistical methods to draw
conclusions:
o Frequency distribution.
o The four measures of central location (mode, median,
arithmetic & geometric mean).
o Measures of spread (range, interquartile range, standard
deviation, and confidence interval).
o Each method is suitable for a certain purpose.
o For example, standard deviation can show how closely
clustered the height of individuals to the average height.
o Epidemiologists use a variety of software to collect and analyze
data like STATA or SPSS.
6. Resources &
References
Greenwood M.Epidemics and crowd-diseases: an introduction
to the study of epidemiology, Oxford University Press; 1935.
Thacker SB. Historical development. In: Teutsch SM, Churchill
RE, editors. Principles and practice of public health
surveillance, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2002.
p. 1–16.
Morris JN. Uses of epidemiology. Edinburgh: Livingstone;
1957.
Griffin S., Marcus A., Schulz T., Walker S. Calculating the
interindividual geometric standard deviation of r use in the
integrated exposure uptake biokinetic model for lead in
children. Environ Health Perspect 1999;107:481–7.
