HSC 4201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Soho, Chickenpox
Document Summary
Epidemiological study that describes a disease with respect to person, place, and time. Designed to answer the questions: who, when, where. Are usually the first epidemiological study carried out on a disease. Enable health care providers and administrators to allocate resources efficiently and to plan effective prevention and education programs. Have some limitations: results are usually not applicable to outbreaks else where, the investigation of a single epidemic cannot provide information about disease trends, rarely identify with certainty the cause of an outbreak. Answering when? : epidemiologists will characterize health events by time of occurrence, the time period of interest will vary and usually depends on the health condition in questions. Secular curves shows the distribution of cases over many years. Example: cases of varicella for the period 1994 to 2010. Seasonal curves designed to show cyclical changes in the numbers of cases of disease. Example: cases of influenza usually occur during the winter months.
