What Is Descriptive And Analytical Epidemiology?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Descriptive epidemiology emphasizes

trends and rates of disease

in a specific population and analytical epidemiology deals in recognizing causes and prejudicing associated risks in disease development.

What is the difference between descriptive and analytical studies?

Descriptive studies involve detailed investigations of individuals in order to improve knowledge of disease. Descriptive studies often have no prior hypotheses and are opportunistic studies of disease whereas analytical studies

are used to test hypotheses by selection and comparison of groups

.

What is analytical epidemiology?

Thus, analytic epidemiology is

concerned with the search for causes and effects

, or the why and the how. Epidemiologists use analytic epidemiology to quantify the association between exposures and outcomes and to test hypotheses about causal relationships.

What is descriptive epidemiology?

Descriptive epidemiology is defined as

epidemiological studies and activities with descriptive components

that are much stronger than their analytic components or that fall within the descriptive area of the descriptive-analytic spectrum.

What is the difference between descriptive and analytic epidemiologic studies?

Generally speaking, descriptive studies deal with

the “what” questions

, for example, describing “what happened” in terms of disease occurrence, while analytic studies ask the “why” questions, for example, why some people develop disease and others don’t.

What are the 3 major types of epidemiologic studies?

EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY DESIGNS

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 two main types of analytic studies?

Analytic studies fall into two categories:

experimental and observational

. Experimental studies, which include clinical and community trials, may be used to study the effects of new drugs or vaccines.

What are the types of analytical studies?

  • Ecological.
  • Cross-sectional.
  • Cohort.
  • Case-Control.
  • Related articles.
  • External links.
  • Sources.
  • References.

What type of study is descriptive?

Descriptive studies are

observational studies

which describe the patterns of disease occurrence in relation to variables such as person, place and time. They are often the first step or initial enquiry into a new topic, event, disease or condition.

What do you mean by analytical study?


A comparative study designed to reach causal inferences about hypothesised relationships between risk factors and outcome

. Analytical studies usually compare two or more groups or sets of data. … Examples. Case-control study, cohort study, randomised-controlled clinical trial, lab study.

What are the 5 W’s of descriptive 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 is an example of descriptive epidemiology?

The time variable is concerned with variation in the occurrence of disease in time and its seasonality or periodicity. A hypothetical example of a descriptive epidemiological study is

the investigation of a group of workers in a factory who have what is suspected to be environmentally acquired lupus

.

What are the two categories of disease?

  • communicable , which are caused by pathogens and can be transferred from one person to another, or from one organism to another – in humans these include measles, food poisoning and malaria.
  • non-communicable , which are not transferred between people or other organisms.

What are the 3 main elements of descriptive epidemiology?

In descriptive epidemiology, we

organize and summarize data according to time, place, and person

. These three characteristics are sometimes called the epidemiologic variables.

What are the 4 types of epidemiological data?

The tests of analytical epidemiology are carried out through four major types of research study designs:

cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, and controlled clinical trials

. Cross-sectional studies are used to explore associations of disease with variables of interest.

What are the types of descriptive epidemiological studies?

Three of the types of descriptive epidemiologic studies are

in- dividual case reports, case series, and cross-sectional studies

(e.g., a survey of a population). Case reports and case series are among the most basic types of descriptive studies.

Emily Lee
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Emily Lee
Emily Lee is a freelance writer and artist based in New York City. She’s an accomplished writer with a deep passion for the arts, and brings a unique perspective to the world of entertainment. Emily has written about art, entertainment, and pop culture.