1 - Epidemiology
1 - Epidemiology
1 - Epidemiology
On
Epidemiology
Introduction, Concept, Scope,
Definition, Trends, History and
development of Modern
Epidemiology, Contribution of
epidemiology, Implication.
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Table of Content
Sl.no Content Page
no.
1 Introduction 3
2 Definition 4
8 Conclusion 24
9 References 25-26
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Epidemiology
Introduction, Concept, Scope, Definition,
Trends, History and development of Modern
Epidemiology, Contribution of epidemiology,
Implication.
1. INTRODUCTION
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past year? What is the expected number of STD cases? Which members of the
community are at highest risk of contracting STDs?
2. DEFINITION
Determinants : Determinants are the factors which influence the health and can
affect the frequency with which a disease occurs in a population. (Intrinsic and
extrinsic)
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3. CONCEPT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
One of the earliest concepts expressed by philosophers Plato and Roussean was
that the disease was primarily the fault of human luxury. The Greek physician
Hippocrates examined the relationship between the occurrence of disease and
environmental influences and coined the terms endemic and epidemic. According to
him
Endemic : for diseases usually found in some places but not in others.
Epidemic : for disease that are seen at sometimes but not others.
As the infectious diseases were the major health problems the epidemiological
concept was restricted to infectious diseases, with the emergence of other disease
conditions. The concept is now applied not only to infectious conditions but to all
disease conditions and health related events.
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are often at the forefront of investigating and combating disease outbreaks while
providing public health services.
The studies are aimed at revealing unbiased relationship and identifying causal
relationships. Identifying causal relationship between these exposures and outcomes
are important aspects of epidemiology. The term epidemiologic trial is used to
describe the intersection of host, agent and environment in analyzing on outbreak,
Modern epidemiologist use informatics as a tool.
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRIANGLE
It is a model that scientist have developed for studying health problems. It helps
to understand infectious disease and how they spread. Triangle has three corners called
as vertices.
Agent it refers to microbes includes Bacteria, viruses, fungi & Protozoa (What of the
triangle),
Host It refers to the organism harboring the disease (Who of the triangle)
Environment Those external factors that cause or allow the disease transmission (the
where of the triangle)
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Mission of an epidemiology is to break at least one of the sides of the triangle,
disrupting the connection between environment, host and agent and stopping the
continuation of disease.
The advanced model recognizes that disease states and conditions affecting a
population are complex and that causative factors are many. It gives recognition to the
fact that many factors and elements contribute to disease in population. The concept of
agent is replaced with causative factors- multiple causes for disease, disability, injury
and death.
Host
Time
Pathogen Environment
In the center of the triangle is TIME. Most infectious disease has an incubation period
that is the invasiveness of organism into body till the clinical symptoms appears. Or the
time may describe the duration of the illness or the amount of time a person can be sick
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before death or recovery occurs. Time also describes the period from an infection to the
threshold of an epidemic for a population.
SEA-SAW MODEL
Positive health is the supremacy of the most over the causative and associated
factors. This is possible when the host becomes stronger and or the agent is removed or
the environment becomes unfavorable to the agent.
Disease or disorder occurs when the agent is more powerful than the Host and or
the Host becomes weaker and or environment becomes favorable for growth,
multiplication and survival of the agent
PIE MODEL
It indicates that a disease may be caused by more than one causal mechanism
(sufficient cause) which is defined as a set of minimal conditions and events that
inevitably produce disease.
According to Rothman & Greenland, a given disease can be caused by more than
one causal mechanism, and every causal mechanism involves the joint action of a
multitude of component causes.
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A single letter indicates a single component cause (A), in other cases the
component causes for each causal mechanism could be different for each mechanism.
Example: Etiology of lung cancer Lung cancer caused by smoking; Lung cancer
caused by exposure to ionizing radiation; Lung cancer caused by inhalation of
carcinogenic solvents in the work place.
A set of component causes occurring together may complete the pie creating a
sufficient cause and thus initiating the disease process. Commonly appearing
component will have larger impact on disease.
It helps to clarify how the necessary and non necessary component causes
contributes to disease occurrence on a population level.
The epidemiological triad model is applicable to infectious diseases only and has
been in use for many years. It helps to understand different factors related to
communicable diseases. However, it is not applicable to non infectious and chronic
diseases like mental illness, coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis etc. It is
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because these diseases are not linked with specific causation agent and these cannot be
prevented and controlled by immunization, isolation and quarantine techniques and by
improvement of sanitation like infectious diseases.
These diseases are caused by multiple factors. For example, coronary heart
disease is associated with certain life style activities such as: smoking, ingestion of food
containing high level of cholesterol, lack of exercise, increased mental and emotional
stress and environmental pollution etc. Control of diet, regular exercise and use of
effective stress management techniques have shown to reduce the risk of experiencing
myocardial infarction. This leads to the theory of multi factorial causation. This theory
thus stresses the multiplicity of interactions between host and environment. This model
is equally applicable to infectious diseases except that specific agents causing infectious
and non infectious diseases (nutrition deficiency diseases) are considered as integral
part of the environment.
It is also found that several causative factors produce many observed effects e.g. air
pollution; smoking and specific form of radiation (causes) may produce lung cancer,
emphysema and bronchitis (effects).
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WEB OF CAUSATION
This epidemiological model suggests that there are cluster of causes and
combinations of effects which are related to each other and need to be studied to
identify possible interventions to reduce the occurrence of a particular disease. For
example, cardio-vascular diseases may include avoidance of smoking, diet control,
exercise, stress management etc.
But fortunately it is not necessary to understand the whole causal mechanism to effect
prevention and control of a particular disease. It requires identification of the most
important link(s) in the chains of causation of a disease.
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This model is particularly applicable to chronic diseases where the causative
agent is unknown and which are due to interaction of multiple factors
e.g. cardiovascular diseases, cancer etc
4.SCOPE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
AIMS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
1.To describe the distribution and magnitude of health and disease problems in
humans populations.
2.To identify a etiological factors in the pathogenesis of disease.
3.To provide the data essentials to the planning implementation and evaluation of
services for the prevention ,control and treatment of disease.
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four major categories of factors such as human biology, life style, environment and
health care system.
In the fourth century BC, Hippocrates and members of his school believed that
disease not only affects individuals but also affects the masses. This was one of the
earliest associations of the occurrence of disease with lifestyle and environmental
factors, specifically geographical location. His approach to disease anticipated the major
categories of descriptive epidemiology: the distribution of health states by personal
characters, place, and time. However, modern epidemiology did not emerge until the
19th century, and it was only in 20th century that field developed as a discipline with a
distinctive identity
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Modern epidemiology can be described as having four distinct eras, each based
on causal thinking, sanitary statistics, infectious-disease epidemiology, and chronic
disease epidemiology. In light of new research, the eco-epidemiology era is currently
emerging.
Early causal thinking was dominated by the miasma theory, which had its
origins in the work of the Hippocratic School and was formally developed in the early
1700s. This theory held that a substance called miasma was composed of malodorous
and poisonous particles generated by the decomposition of organic matter and was the
cause of disease. Despite its base on faulty reasoning, this type of prevention had
positive consequences because it made people aware that decaying organic matter can
be a source of infectious diseases, this theory dominated until the first half of the 19th
century. Nightingale herself never accepted the link between micro organisms and
disease and based her practice on this same approach. Her work in the Crimea, with its
emphasis on sanitation, had positive results nonetheless.
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development of increasingly sophisticated microscopes, this theory attempted to
identify the microorganisms that cause diseases as a first step in prevention. It inspired
various theories of immunity, and even prompted some initial attempts at vaccination
against smallpox.
Based on the work of Louis Pasteur, Jakob Henle, and Robert Koch, the
contagion theory was refined and became best known as the germ theory of disease,
which was predominant from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th
century.
After World War II, the causative agents of major infectious diseases were
identified, methods of prevention were recognized, and antibiotics and chemotherapy
were added to fight communicable diseases. The focus then became understanding and
controlling the new chronic disease epidemics. With the increase in chronic disease,
epidemiologists realized the necessity of looking beyond single agents toward a multi-
factorial etiology, now called ecological model.
E.g. Researchers completed case-control and cohort studies that linked the
causative factors of cholesterol levels and smoking with coronary heart disease and
associated smoking with lung cancer. Today the major causes of mortality are non-
infectious diseases.
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21st century
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organized in a using new levels
hierarchy of information systems
levels. and biomedical
techniques
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1836 Pierre Charles Comparative observational studies to demonstrate
Alexandre Louis ineffectiveness of bloodletting. Emphasized the
importance of statistical methods.
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1977 WHO Organizations smallpox eradication campaign succeeds;
last known case of smallpox in the world occurs.
1983 HIV-I retro virus is identified as the causal agent of AIDS.
1991 National Womens health initiative established.
Institutes of
Health
2002 WHO World report on violence and health, the first
comprehensive summary of the global impact of violence as
a public health problem.
6. USES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
To study the history of disease in relation to its rise and fall in a community.
To diagnose the health problems of the community by studying their occurrence,
fluctuation, distribution by age, sex, occupation, locality and estimating risk, or
morbidity and mortality.
To find out chances of risk involved for individual in acquiring the disease.
To fill the gap in the knowledge of the natural history of diseases in their clinical
picture by analyzing the disease in a group and persons.
To identify clinical syndromes by observing its behavior in a group of persons.
Through operational research it helps in evaluating the effectiveness of present
health services in the community.
To search for chest to causes of disease and ill health by studying community
habits, customs, social patterns, biological aspects. This will also include a study of
new disease problems.
To collect variety of data from different sources and to frame logical chains to
explain multiple factors and events in diseases.
To establish epidemiological diagnosis of a disease with better understanding of
its different aspects after observing its behavior in a group of persons.
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To measure indirectly the effectiveness of control and preventive measures.
7. IMPLICATIONS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
1. To study the occurrence of Disease in a population.
Here epidemiologists study the history of the disease of the population and the
rise and fall of diseases and changes in their character and predict the future
health needs.
2. Diagnose the health of the community.
Community diagnosis generally refers to the identification and
quantification of health problems in a community in terms of mortality,
morbidity rates and ratios and identifications of their correlates for the purpose
of defining those individuals or groups at risk or those in need of health care
Quantification of health problems helps to
Lay down the priorities in disease control and prevention.
Evaluate health services at a later date.
Provide new knowledge about disease distribution, causation and
prevention.
3. Planning and evaluation of health services
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Evaluation Epidemiological measures that are taken to control or prevent a
disease must be followed by an evaluation to find out whether the measures
undertaken are effective in reducing the frequency of the disease. It includes the
cost and effectiveness of the measures.
4. Estimate individual risks and chances: Here the work of the epidemiologist is to
estimate the risk of diseases, accident and defect, and chances of avoiding them. So, it
helps to identify the people at risk over a period of time, and predicts the future health
needs and provides the base for preventive measure and their evaluation and helps in
logical planning of facilities for health care.
5. Syndrome Identification
6. Complete the clinical picture of chronic disease and describe their natural history
The epidemiologist study the complete clinical picture of the disease patterns in
the community in relation to agent, host and environment is in a better portion to fill up
the gaps in the natural history of disease than the clinician
7. To search for causes of health and disease/ to forecast future diseases trends
Epidemiology helps in understanding the causation of disease and disability and
providing data which helps to explain the etiology of disease and local disease patterns
which in turn helps to test the hypothesis clinically or experimentally.
8. CONTRIBUTIONS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
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new problems have emerged and gained magnitude over the years. In these
circumstances epidemiology is destined to play an increasingly important role in
defining the magnitude of the problems, forecasting their long term consequences and
deriving appropriate strategies for their prevention and control. The following are some
of the contributions of epidemiology
Disease antecedents
Disease correlates
Disease behavior
Disease causation
Strategy formulation
Programme evaluation
DISEASE ANTECEDENTS
Tsetse fly Identified as the vector of sleeping sickness by Bruce and Nabarro
in 1903.
DISEASE CORRELATES
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Germ theory of diseases
Multi factorial causation, these things helped in identification of causes and risk
factors for both the communicable and non communicable diseases. This disease
correlates has been instrumental in reducing maternal and child mortality on a
universal scale.
DISEASE BEHAVIOUS
DISEASE CAUSATION
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Control or eradication of diseases is much more complex than their prevention or
treatment. The success of a control programme is mainly determined by its operational
strategy. A sound control strategy is one that is epidemiologically relevant and
operationally feasible. Examples
PROGRAMME EVALUATION
8. CONCLUSION
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9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Allender, Ann Judith & Spradley, Walton Barbara. (2007), Community Health Nursing
Promoting and Protecting Publics Health, (7th ed.), Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams
2. Basavanthappa, BT. (2008), Community Health Nursing, (2nd edition), Jaypee, 619 -660
3. Gupta, J.P & Sood, A.K. (2005), Contemporary Public Health Policy, Planning and
4. Gupta, M.C. & Mahajan, B.K. (2007), Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, (3rd
5. Gulani K.K, (2008). Community health Nursing principle and practices, (2nd
ed.). Kumar: Pitampura, 225 237.
6. Mathur, J.S. (2007), Preventive and Social Medicine A Comprehensive Textbook,
8. O.P. Ghai & Gupta Piyush. (2007), Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, (2nd
9. Park, K. (2011), Parks Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, (21st ed.), Jabalpur
: Banarsidas Bhanot, 50 76
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10. Stanhope, Marcia & Lancaster, Jeanette. (2008), Public Health Nursing Population
Centered Health Care in Community, (7th ed.), Missouri : Mosby, 243 - 274.
Net References:
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