The Basics
What is Epidemiology
The study of health-related events in human populations that focuses on the prevention and control of health problems. The findings of Epidemiology can help contribute to the prevention, injury, and controlling of disease to improve public health!
What is the Epidemiology Triangle?
A tool that epidemiologist use to help understand the disease.
According to the multicausation model, multiple factors often interact to cause a disease
True.
What are communicable diseases?
When infectious diseases began to be contagious and able to be transmitted
What is Active Primary Prevention?
Education and Behavior changes that prevents disease or disorder
What are the two measures of disease frequency, and what are their definitions?
Incidence: The number of new cases of a disease or condition that occur in a specific population during a defined time period.
Prevalence: The total number of existing cases (both new and pre-existing) of a disease or condition in a specific population at a given point in time or over a period of time.
What is the host part of the Epidemiology triangle?
The human or animal the agent is thriving in. (Persons, groups, and populations.)
In health promotion, we assume that: 1) diseases are not random and 2) disease has an identifiable cause.
True.
1) Diseases are not random: A fundamental premise of epidemiology, which underpins much of health promotion, is that health events, including diseases, do not occur randomly within a population. Instead, they are more likely to affect certain individuals due to a combination of risk factors that may not be evenly distributed.
2)Disease has an identifiable cause: This refers to the idea that diseases don't arise spontaneously, but rather stem from specific causes or sets of conditions. These causes can include biological, behavioral, environmental, and social factors.
What are Pathogens?
What is Secondary Prevention?
Definition:
Efforts to detect and treat disease early, often before symptoms appear, to halt or slow progression.
Example:
Screenings (like mammograms or blood pressure checks), early diagnosis, and prompt treatment.
What is a pandemic?
A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals.
What is the Environmental part of the Epidemiology Triangle?
the surroundings and conditions the human or animal was in while the disease was transmitted.
Zoonoses are diseases that only exist in animals and cannot be transmitted to humans
False. Zoonoses are diseases that originate in animals but they can be transmitted between animals and humans.
ex. rabies, salmonellosis, lyme disease
What are the four terms used to describe disease occurence in populations?
Endemic: A disease outbreak is endemic when it is consistently present but limited to a particular region. This makes the disease spread and rates predictable.
Pandemic: A disease outbreak that spreads across multiple countries or continents, affecting a large number of people.
Epidemic: A sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in a specific population or area.
Sporadic: A disease that occurs infrequently and irregularly, with isolated cases that are not linked to each other.
What is Primary prevention?
an effort to prevent disease before it happens
Example:
Vaccinations, healthy eating, wearing seatbelts, banning smoking in public places.
What is an epidemic curve?
A graph that displays the cases of disease according to the time of date of onset and symptoms
What is the Agent part of the Epidemiology Triangle?
Agent is what the cause of the disease. (Pathogen, virulence, etc)
The main goal of the WHO is to regulate hospitals and approve medical licenses in each country.
The World Health Organization, and it provides "internationally endorsed standard diagnostic classifications for general epidemiologic and health management purposes". The WHO provides guidance, support, and coordination on global health issues.
What is Etiology?
It explores why and how a disease develops.
It can involve biological, environmental, genetic, or behavioral factors.
What is the difference between prevention and harm reduction?
While prevention aims to stop a health issue before it starts, harm prevention focuses on minimizing the negative effects of risky behaviors without necessarily eliminating them.
What is the difference between descriptive epidemiology and analytic epidemiology?
Descriptive: judging public health impact, prevalence and incidence of disease(morbidity), incidence of death(mortality), economic cost, healthy living, available data
Analytic: identifying risk factors, searching for causal factors, etiologic, how and why
What model developed by Rothman explains how multiple factors work together to cause disease? Explain the basis of the model.
sufficient-component cause model: describes disease causation as a process involving multiple factors (component causes) that come together to form a "sufficient cause"—a complete set of conditions that inevitably produces disease.
The leading cause of death in the US today is communicable disease
False.
1. heart disease
2. cancer
3. unintentional injury
4. stroke
What is the chain of infection? What are the 6 links?
Infectious agent: The pathogen that causes disease eg. bacterium, virus, fungus.
Reservoir: The natural habitat where a pathogen lives, grows, and multiplies.
Portal of Exit: The path by which a pathogen leaves its reservoir or host. eg. respiratory tract (cough/sneeze), blood (needle use/bleeding)
Mode of transmission: how the pathogen moves; Direct (person to person- kissing), indirect (vectors, contaminated surfaces, airborne particles)
Portal of Entry: The route through which a pathogen enters a new host eg. broken skin, respiratory tract (droplet inhalation), mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth)
Susceptible host: An individual who lacks immunity or resistance and can become infected when exposed to the pathogen.
What is Tertiary Prevention?
Definition:
Interventions to reduce complications or improve quality of life after a disease has been diagnosed.
Example:
Rehabilitation programs, physical therapy after a stroke, managing chronic illness like diabetes.