FAMILY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE

Topics to be discussed includes:

1. Define what is epidemiology
● It is the study of distribution and determinants of health-related states among specified
populations and the application of that study to the control of health problems.
● It helps us to determine where diseases originate, how and why they move to populations
and how we prevent them.
2. Enumerate the uses of epidemiology
● Discover the agent, host, environmental factors that affect health
● Determine the relative importance of causes of illness, disability, and death
● Identify those segments of the population that have the greatest risk from specific causes of
ill health
● Evaluate the effectiveness of health programs and services in improving population health

QUESTIONs:
1. All of the following illustrate the purpose of epidemiology in public health, except?
-> providing treatment for patients in clinical settings.
2. Epidemiologist use a model for studying infectious disease and its spread that involves the
microbe that causes the disease, the organism that harbors the disease, and the external
factors that cause or allow disease transmission
-> transmission, host, and environment
3. Which term describes the consistency of prevalence of malaria in Africa at all times due to
the presence of infected mosquitos?
-> Endemic
4. Which of the following is an example of a health- related source of data collection?
-> measurement of toxins in a river
5.

**Solving health problems: Scientific method:

STEP 1. Data collection: surveillance. Who, where, when
STEP 2. Assessment: Causes
STEP 3. Hypothesis: How and why (analytic epidemiology)
STEP 4. Action : aka intervention. To promote healthy behaviors (
3. Apply the use of epidemiology in the context of Covid 19.

**Calculating rates:
Rate- help us compare health problems among different populations that include two or more
groups who differ by a selected characteristic

1. Determine the frequency of disease

● The number of cases of the illness or condition
● The size of the population at risk
● The period during which we are calculating the rate
Rate % = number of cases / population at risk x 100
**Epidemiology study types:
1. Experimental - the researcher can control certain factors within the study from the
beginning e.g. vaccines efficacy trial
2. Observational- the investigator does not control the circumstances
● Descriptive epidemiology - more basic and fundamental to what epidemiology
does.
- Collects information that can categorizes and summarize the health event
or problem
- When, where, who?
● Analytic epidemiology - relies between categories of different groups to
determine the role of different causative conditions or risk factors
- How and why?

● Cross-sectional study - subjects are selected because they are members of a certain
population subset at a certain time.
● Cohort study- subjects are categorized on the basis of their exposure to one or more
risk factors.
● Case control study- subjects identified as having a disease or condition are compared
with subjects without the same disease or condition.
Outbreak investigations:
1. Establishing the existence of an outbreak - use from data sources
2. Preparing for fieldworks - research the disease, gather supplies and equipment,
arrange travel
3. Verifying diagnosis - speak with patients and review laboratory findings and clinical
test results
4. Defining and identifying cases - establish a case definition by using a standard set of
criteria
5. Using descriptive epidemiology - describe and orient the data (what,
who,when,where,how,why)
6. Developing hypotheses
7. Evaluating the hypotheses
8. Refining the hypotheses
9. Implementing control and prevention measures - control and prevent additional
cases
10. Communicating findings- determine who needs to know, how information will be
communicated, identify why the information needs to be communicated.

Study Guide Questions

1. What is the history, philosophy, and uses of epidemiology?

2. What are the list sources of epidemiologic data?
3. What is descriptive epidemiology, and describe the applications of descriptive epidemiology to the
health of populations?
4. What is analytic epidemiology, and differentiate among the types of analytic research designs.
5. What is evidence-based public health, and its applications?
6. How is epidemiology applied in the context of Covid 19 at the local level and what are its
applications of epidemiology to policy development?