Chapter 1: Foundations of Epidemiology
"The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in human populations and the application of this study to the prevention and control of health problems" (Merrill, pg. 2)
What is epidemiology?
"The ability of a pathogen to get into a susceptible host and cause disease" (Merrill, pg. 40)
What is invasiveness?
"A pyramid with a broad base and a tall, pointed shape, which represents a rapid rate of population growth and a low proportion of older people" (Merrill, pg. 94)
What is an expansive pyramid?
"An appropriate statistic for investigating disease outbreaks because it describes rapidly occurring, new cases of disease in a well-defined population over a limited time period" (Merrill, pg. 195)
What is attack rate?
"The study of the distribution and determinants of chronic diseases and conditions in human populations and the application of that study to prevent and control these diseases and conditions" (Merrill, pg. 212)
What is chronic disease epidemiology?
"A specific event, condition, or characteristic that pre- cedes the health outcome and is necessary for its occurrence" (Merrill, pg. 3)
What is cause?
"The time from exposure to clinical symptoms" (Merrill, pg. 41)
What is a latency period?
"The relationship by age between those who have the potential to be self-supporting and the dependent segments of the population, in other words, those segments of the population not in the workforce" (Merrill, pg. 95)
What is a dependency ratio?
"A combination of both types of epidemics" (Merrill, pg. 196)
What is a mixed epidemic?
"High-energy radiation capable of breaking chemical bonds in atoms and molecules" (Merrill, pg. 216)
What is ionizing radiation?
"An epidemic affecting or attacking the population of an extensive region, country, or continent" (Merrill, pg. 5)
What is a pandemic?
"The dysfunction, poor function, or malfunction of certain organs or physiologic processes in the body, leading to disease states" (Merrill, pg. 43)
What are metabolic diseases?
"The change in rate of a condition according to age" (Merrill, pg. 103)
What is age effect?
"A result of the ingestion of disease-causing organisms (pathogens) such as bacteria and microscopic plants and animals" (Merrill, pg. 199)
What is a food infection?
"Transformation produced by the body of the substance into new chemicals" (Merrill, pg. 217)
What is biotransformation?
"The first disease case in the population" (Merrill, pg. 7)
What is a primary case?
"The second stage of illness and the period in which signs and symptoms of a disease first appear" (Merrill, pg. 45)
"The systematic ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data" (Merrill, pg. 112)
What is public health surveillance?
"An unusual aggregation, real or perceived, of health events that are grouped together in time and space and that are reported to a health agency" (Merrill, pg. 202)
What is a disease cluster?
"The study on how a chemical substance enters the body and the course it takes while in the body" (Merrill, pg. 217)
What is toxicokinetics?
"An object such as a piece of cloth- ing, a door handle, or a utensil that can harbor an infectious agent and is capable of being a means of transmission" (Merrill, pg. 9)
What is a formite?
"The introduction of a substance that can cause the immune system to respond and develop antibodies against a disease" (Merrill, pg. 51)
What is immunization?
"Data on birth, death, marriage, and divorce" (Merrill, pg. 114)
What are vital records?
"A formulation of the hypotheses after observation of an event, such as an excess of cancer" (Merrill, pg. 206)
What is posthoc hypotheses?
"A widely used conceptual framework for understanding health behavior, behavior change requires a rational decision making process that considers perceived susceptibility to illness, perceived consequences or seriousness of the illness, belief that recommended action is appropriate or efficacious to reduce risk, and belief that the benefits of action outweigh the costs" (Merrill, pg. 223)
What is the health belief model?