HED 044 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Case Series, Case Report, Fish Oil
2 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
Study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states among specific populations and the application of that study to the control of health problems. Infectious agents, foods/nutrients, chemicals, genetics, demographics, social-behavioral. Any health outcomes can be measured in epidemiological studies. Not just clinical diseases like stroke or cancer. Blood glucose levels, heartburn, injuries, height, etc. Depending on the question asked, a single factor (e. g. , weight) could be either the exposure or the outcome. As long as it relates to health. Descriptive epidemiology: focused on describing the disease burden in a population. Example: what was the incidence of stroke in the us in 2016. Analytical epidemiology: focused on establishing a cause and effect relationship between various exposures and diseases. Evaluates exposure and disease distributions by groups, not individuals. How state-level smoking rates are associated with state-level esophageal cancer rates. How country-level average fat intake is associated with country- level breast cancer mortality. Disease occurs at the individual level, not group level.
