Epidemiology
Definition and Description of Epidemiology
The word epidemiology was derived from the Greek words where "epi" means upon, "demos" means people, and "logos" means study.
Epidemiology can be defined in detail as the study of distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the prevention and control of health problems. (Last, 2001)
Here, in the definition the distribution refers to analysis of persons, classes of people, places that are being affected by the specific disease and determinants refers to factors that influence population health; these factors may be chemical, physical, biological, social, economic, cultural, behavioral or genetic. Health-related states refers to causes of death, diseases and behaviors such as use of tobacco, use of health services and reactions to preventive treatments. Specified population refers to those groups who indicate identifiable characteristics and application to prevention and control is aim of public health to protect, promote and restore health.
Epidemiological study focuses on a certain population that can be defined in terms of geographical or other criteria. The population may be selected from specific country or area at a specific time. Once population is selected, it can be further divided into subgroups based on age, gender, ethnicity or so on. Epidemiologists usually study on issues related to disability, illness, and death; they are more concerned about improving health and positive health states.
Public Health refers to combined actions in course of improving population health. One of the tools used for this purpose is epidemiology. In past, epidemiology studies focused more on cause of communicable diseases and that leads to work in identification of preventive methods. (Bonita, Beaglehole, & Kjellstorm, 2006)
Steps and Methods of Epidemiology
Epidemiology employs different sound scientific methods for the inquiry of the problem. It is a data-driven process following an unbiased and systematic approach for the collection, interpretation and analysis of data.
As for basic methods, epidemiology studies make careful observations and compare them via valid comparison groups. The observations like number of persons suffering from a particular disease in a particular area and time or the frequency of exposure with disease among people are different from that what is expected. There are other scientific methods also been used in epidemiology including informatics and biostatistics with economic, behavioral, social and biologic sciences? (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Epidemiology is also often called as the science of public health. It is a quantitative discipline that is based on current knowledge of statistics, probability and sound research methods. Moreover, it is also method of causal reasoning that develops and tests hypothesis defined in scientific fields like physics, behavioral sciences, biology and ergonomics.
An epidemiological study is comprised of the following steps:
Initial observation and data collection of the population to assess the high frequency of a particular disease or outbreak during a specific time period.
Develop a case by defining the percentage of population at risk because of the certain disease.
Collect and analyze data and describe disease under study by means of epidemic curve, spot map and tabulation to show the frequency rate of risk factors.
Develop hypothesis
Conduct analytical studies by measuring risks and refining hypothesis.
Test hypothesis and summarize findings
Suggest and define interventions or preventive programs.
(Health Knowledge, 2012)
Routine and Research Data Related to AIDS in USA
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS was first identified in USA in 1981 as unique disease entity. As according to statistics there were about 10 million people who suffered from human immunodeficiency virus or HIV by 1990. 17,000 people died in USA in 2009 due to AIDS. Since now, 1.7 million people in U.S. are found to be suffering from HIV, out of which 619,000 have already been died and 1.2 million people who are suffering has the higher percentage of adolescents and adults. AIDS is been considered as the most destructive infectious disease epidemics in USA since all the 50 states reported HIV diagnoses.
As according to estimates of Centre of Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, more than one million people in USA has HIV infection and one of every five HIV patients is not aware of the HIV infection he/she suffering from. Every year, about 50,000 Americans gets infected from HIV. The disease is most common among bisexual, gay and MSM people.
The higher percentage of youth in USA is getting infected of HIV. This percentage mainly includes young African America, minority...
The "where" category is at the right corner, and can be delineated as Fulton, Georgia. All three categories interact with each other to offer conclusions for the study. Additional factors such as child abuse and the crime rate can then be examined in terms of these categories. According to Rosenberg & Handler, descriptive epidemiology focuses on the pattern and frequency of health issues for a population group, while analytic epidemiology
Recent estimates suggest that while representing 25% of the ever sexually active population, 15 to 24 years of age acquire nearly half of all new STD" (Special focus profiles: Adolescents and young adults, 2007, Surveillance 2006: CDC). Explained the type of epidemiology used While most of the data compiled is based upon statistical evidence from clinics and hospitals, in addition to this analytical methodology, research indicates in a descriptive fashion that
human papilloma virus and the description of epidemiology as it relates to the virus. Steps and methods of epidemiology have been discussed in detail alongside statistical data for demographics taken from surveillance records. Moreover, research data have been taken as vital assistance to compliment the study of this research paper and to prove results with evidences from researches (Duncan, 1988). Statistics have been taken from World Health Organization for the
In the earlier times, malaria was a big issue in the North America, Europe and some areas of northern Asia. The geographic distribution could still be offset by the shift in population mobility and climatic changes. Plasmodium falciparum is the most dominant species in the world while the P. Ovale dominating the sub-Saharan region of Africa, and P. vivax found in the other remaining regions according to Parasites and
HuGE Cancer Epidemiology HuGE Study Masson, L. Sharp, S.C. Cotton and J. Little. Cytochrome P-450 1A1 Gene Polymorphisms and Risk of Breast Cancer: A HuGE Review. Am. J. Epidemiol. (15 May 2005) 161 (10): 901-915. Category of HuGE Information The types of information available from the article: Prevalence of gene variant Gene-disease association Gene-environment interaction Gene-gene interaction Cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 1A1 plays a key role in phase I metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and in estrogen metabolism. It is
Using condoms is also an excellent prevention activity that can also be used (Primary and Secondary HIV Prevention, 2008). Potential obstacles to HIV prevention activities taking place in clinical settings often include: narrow formations of medical care and the role of physicians or health care providers in HIV prevention, a provider's discomfort with discussing human sexuality and illicit drug use and their attitudes towards persons with HIV or AIDS along with
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