HSCI 304 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Environmental Epidemiology, Epidemiological Method, Prevalence
Document Summary
Epidemiology: the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease, morbidity, injuries, disability, and mortality in populations. Epidemiologic studies are applied to the control of health problems in populations. Epidemiology is one of the core disciplines used to examine the associations between environmental hazards and health outcomes. Environmental epidemiology: the study of diseases and health conditions (occurring in the population) that are linked to environmental factors. From collated (grouped) clinical examinations of individuals to hypotheses that link the outcomes (outlined in the examinations) to shared environmental outcomes. Exposure factors must lie outside the individual"s immediate control. Contribution of epidemiology: concern with populations, use of observational data, methodology for study designs, descriptive and analytic studies. Examines the occurrence of diseases across populations or geographic locations. Use observational data: no experiments due to ethical concerns. To portray the frequency of disease occurrence in the population.