Epidemiological Terms – Flashcards
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Epidemiology
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the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems
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Frequency
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relationship between the number of cases of disease and the size of the population
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Pattern
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occurrence of health-related events by time, place, and person
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Determinants
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causes and other factors that influence the occurrence of disease and other health-related events
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Father of Epidemiology
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John Snow
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Public Health Surveillance
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ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data to help guide public health decision making and action
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Effectiveness
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ability of a program to produce the intended results in the field
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Efficacy
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the ability to produce results under the ideal conditions
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Efficiency
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ability of the program to produce the intended results minimum expenditure of time and resources
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Case Definition
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a set of standard criteria used for classifying whether a person has a particular disease, syndrome, or other health condition
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Descriptive Epidemiology
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Type of epidemiology which only covers time place and time to describe an outbreak rather than case definition, person, place, time, and causes/risk factors/modes of transmission
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Analytic Epidemiology
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The type of epidemiology turned to to test hypotheses formed with information acquired through descriptive epidemiology
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Experimental studies
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Form of analytic epidemiology which tests hypotheses in a very controlled environment
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Observational studies
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Type of analytic study in which the epidemiologist simply observes the exposure and disease status of each participant. (Cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional)
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Cohort Study
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Epidemiologist tracks whether or not the participant is exposed and then tracks them to see if they develop the disease. It is the most reliable form of analytic study, but most expensive and time-consuming.
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prospective study
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A study which monitors exposure first, then looks forward to see if disease is developed.
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retrospective study
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starts with people already diseased, then traces back to see if they had been exposed
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Case-control study
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enroll people with disease and use people without the disease. they then compare previous exposures between the two groups
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cross-sectional study
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the least expensive and least effective analytic study
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Epidemiological triad
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agent host environment
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agent
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A microbe which causes disease
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Host
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the human who develops the disease
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environment
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extrinsic factors that affect the agent and the opportunity for exposure
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Incubation period
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the stage of subclinical disease extending from the time of exposure to onset of disease symptoms for infectious diseases
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Latency period
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the stage of subclinical disease extending from the time of exposure to onset of disease symptoms for chronic disease
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Spectrum of disease
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the disease process resulting in illness which is mild, severe, or fatal and eventually ends in recovery, disability, or death
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Infectivity
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the proportion of exposed persons who become infected
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pathogenicity
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the proportion of infected individuals who develop clinically apparent disease
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virulence
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the proportion of clinically apparent cases that are severe or fatal
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carriers
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persons who are infectious but have subclinical disease
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reservoir
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the habitat in which the agent normally lives, grows, and multiplies
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portal of exit
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the path by which a pathogen leaves its host
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mode of transmission
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the way through which an agent is transmitted to its host
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portal of entry
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the manner in which the pathogen enters a susceptible host
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direct transmission
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an infectious agent is transferred from a reservoir
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direct contact
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skin to skin contact
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droplet spread
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spray with relatively large, short-range aerosols produced by sneezing, coughing, or even talking
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indirect transmission
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the transfer of an infectious agent from a reservoir to a host by suspended air particles, inanimate objects, or vectors
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airborne
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transmission occurs when infectious agents are carried by dust or droplet nuclei suspended in air
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herd immunity
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suggests that if a high enough proportion of individuals in a population are resistant to an agent, then those few who are susceptible will be protected by the resistant majority since the pathogen will be unlikely to "find those few susceptible individuals
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endemic level
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the amount of a particular disease that is usually present in the community
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sporadic
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a disease that occurs infrequently and irregularly
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endemic
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the constant presence and or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area
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common source outbreak
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an outbreak in which a group of persons are all exposed to an infectious agent or toxin from the same source
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point source outbreak
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if the group is exposed over a relatively brief period, so everyone who becomes ill does so in on incubation period, then the common source outbreak is further classified as a point source outbreak
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continuous common-source outbreak
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common source outbreaks in which patients have been exposed over a period of days, weeks, or longer
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intermittent common-source outbreak
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propagated outbreak
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results from transmission from one person to another
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mixed epidemics
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an epidemic with features of both a common-source outbreak and a propagated outbreak
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ratio
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the relative magnitude of two quantities or a comparison of any two values
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proportion
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the comparison of a part to the whole
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rate
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a measure of the frequency with which an event occurs in a defined population over a specified period of time
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incidence rate
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conveys a sense of speed with which disease occurs in a population, and seems to imply that this pattern has occurred and will continue to occur for the foreseeable future
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attack rate
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the proportion of the population that develops illness during an outbreak
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case fatality rate
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the proportion of persons with the disease who die from it
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prevalence rate
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the proportion of the population that has a health condition at a point in time
