What Are The Aims And Objectives Of Epidemiology?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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There are two groups of aims:

first, to describe the distribution, the pattern, and the natural history of disease in the general population

, and second, to identify factors that may be causal in a disease process, and to evaluate strategies for the control, management, and prevention of a disease.

What are the 5 main objectives of epidemiology?

In the mid-1980s, five major tasks of epidemiology in public health practice were identified:

public health surveillance, field investigation, analytic studies, evaluation, and linkages

.

What is the purpose of epidemiology?

Epidemiology

identifies the distribution of diseases, factors underlying their source and cause, and methods for their control

; this requires an understanding of how political, social and scientific factors intersect to exacerbate disease risk, which makes epidemiology a unique science.

What are the 4 main uses of epidemiology?

  • To study the disease trend since past.
  • Community diagnosis.
  • Planning and evaluation of health services.
  • Evaluation of a new therapy or a new health measure.
  • Determining the risk to an individual.
  • Identification of syndromes.
  • Filling in the gaps in the natural history of the disease.

What are the 3 major types of epidemiological studies?

Three major types of epidemiologic studies are

cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies

(study designs are discussed in more detail in IOM, 2000). A cohort, or longitudinal, study follows a defined group over time.

What are the 5 W’s of epidemiology?

The difference is that epidemiologists tend to use synonyms for the 5 W’s:

diagnosis or health event (what), person (who), place (where), time (when), and causes, risk factors, and modes of transmission (why/how)

.

What are the benefits of epidemiology?

Epidemiology uses statistics to provide a snapshot of a populations diseases, illnesses and disability. This snapshot is then used by various people and groups to inform health promotion and guide research. Epidemiology’s benefits include

identifying areas of strength and weakness for a population’s health

.

Which of the following is a general goal of epidemiology?

The goal of epidemiology is

to establish causal factors for health issues in order

to improve the health and safety of entire populations.

What is the use of epidemiology in clinical practice?

Epidemiology has an important clinical impact for it can be used

to understand the pathogenesis of diseases

, improve diagnostic accuracy, help the patient to reduce risk factors and the physician to choose the correct therapeutic approach.

What are the three components of epidemiology?

The epidemiologic triangle is made up of three parts:

agent, host and environment

.

What are the different types of epidemiology?

  • Hospital epidemiologist. …
  • Academic research epidemiologist. …
  • Veterinary epidemiologist. …
  • Epidemiology statistician. …
  • Molecular epidemiologist. …
  • Infectious disease epidemiologist. …
  • Medical epidemiologist. …
  • Field epidemiologist.

What are epidemiological principles?

Distribution – Epidemiology is

concerned with the frequency and pattern of health events in a population

. … Frequency includes not only the number of events in a population, but also the rate or risk of disease in the population.

What are types of epidemiology?

Epidemiologic studies fall into two categories:

experimental and observational

.

What are the steps in the epidemiological process?

  1. Step 1: Prepare for the Investigation. Before embarking on an outbreak investigation, consider necessary preparations: …
  2. Step 2: Verify the Diagnosis & Presence of an Outbreak. …
  3. Step 3: Establish a Case Definition; Identify Cases. …
  4. Step 4: Conduct Descriptive Epidemiology. …
  5. Step 6: Develop Hypotheses. …
  6. Step 7: Evaluate Hypotheses.

What are 3 advantages of epidemiological studies?

  • Incidence can be directly calculated.
  • Direct estimation of the relative risk (RR)
  • More than one outcome of the risk factor can be studied.
  • Dose response relationship with exposure can be studied.
  • Temporal association of the exposure with the outcome can be seen.

Why is epidemiology important to environmental health?

Environmental epidemiology is one of the most important tools used in environmental management decision making

owing to its capacity to assess and monitor environmental hazards in different settings and quantify their health impact on the population at risk

.

How is epidemiology useful in infection control and prevention?

Epidemiological methods are

used to detect infectious pathogens, determine disease causality

, understand pathogenesis and the natural history of infections as well as ways to devise effective interventions for their prevention and control.

Why is epidemiology important in medicine?

Saving Money Through Prevention. Epidemiology is

the study of the origin and causes of diseases in a community

. … The investigation would identify the cause of the outbreak and lead to interventions to prevent further cases of the disease.

Why is epidemiology important in nursing?

Conclusion: Epidemiological studies can potentially offer considerable benefits to the way nurses incorporate

health-related practices

into their professional role. Research also offers a valuable opportunity for the nursing profession to become more active in helping to determine health policy issues.

What is the role of epidemiology in modern medicine?

Epidemiology is the study of disease in populations. … Epidemiological methods are used for disease surveillance to identify which hazards are the most important. Epidemiological studies are also used to identify risk factors which may represent critical control points in the food production

system

.

What are the key 6 characteristics of epidemiology?

It extracts six types of epidemiological characteristic:

design of the study, population that has been studied, exposure, outcome, covariates and effect size

.

What are host factors in epidemiology?

Host refers

to the human who can get the disease

. A variety of factors intrinsic to the host, sometimes called risk factors, can influence an individual’s exposure, susceptibility, or response to a causative agent.

What are epidemiological tools?


Proportions, ratios, rates, prevalence, incidence, study designs, bias, confounding, effect modification, odds and risk ratios, statistical power, and confidence intervals

are defined and discussed. Descriptive epidemiology is concerned with describing the distribution of disease by person, place, and time.

Who is the father of epidemiology?

In the mid-1800s, an anesthesiologist named

John Snow

was conducting a series of investigations in London that warrant his being considered the “father of field epidemiology.” Twenty years before the development of the microscope, Snow conducted studies of cholera outbreaks both to discover the cause of disease and to …

What are the 4 types of diseases?

There are four main types of disease:

infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases

(including both genetic diseases and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases.

What are 10 duties of an epidemiologist?

  • Analyze data and find conclusions.
  • Create a plan of action for potential health crises.
  • Create reports detailing potential threats.
  • Give presentations to policy makers.
  • Communicate with policy makers on public health.
  • Manage multiple projects at once.

What is the first step in an epidemiological investigation?

The first step in an investigation is

to determine whether the reported number of cases is unusual

. Baseline surveillance data is a useful resource for making this decision. Verifying the diagnosis through laboratory testing is also important, especially for new or uncommon pathogens.

How do epidemiologists help society?

Epidemiologists study outbreaks of diseases, the causes, locations, and how various communities are affected, utilizing relative information to aid in the prevention of future outbreaks. Epidemiologists help

to keep the public informed of methods to maintain and improve public health

.

What do epidemiologists do during an outbreak?

When disease outbreaks or other threats emerge, epidemiologists are on

the scene to investigate

. Often called “Disease Detectives”, epidemiologists search for the cause of disease, identify people who are at risk, determine how to control or stop the spread or prevent it from happening again.

James Park
Author
James Park
Dr. James Park is a medical doctor and health expert with a focus on disease prevention and wellness. He has written several publications on nutrition and fitness, and has been featured in various health magazines. Dr. Park's evidence-based approach to health will help you make informed decisions about your well-being.