Therearemanygoodepidemiologytextbooksonthemarket,butmostoftheseare addressedtostudentsofpublichealthorpeoplewhodoclinicalresearchwithe- demiologicmethods. Thereisaneedforashortintroductiononhowepidemiologic methodsareusedinpublichealth,geneticandclinicalepidemiology,becausehealth professionalsneedtoknowbasicepidemiologicmethodscoveringetiologicaswell asprognosticfactorsofdiseases. Theyneedtoknowmoreaboutmethodologythan introductorytextsonpublichealthhavetooffer. Insomehealthfaculties,epidemiologyisnotevenpartoftheteachingcurri- lum. Webelievethistobeaseriousmistake. Medicalstudentsarestudentsofall aspectsofdiseasesandhealth. Withoutknowingsomethingaboutepidemiologythe cliniciansandotherhealthprofessionalscannotreadagrowingpartofthesci- ti cliteratureinanyreasonablycriticalwayandcannotnavigateintheworldof "evidence-basedmedicineandevidence-basedprevention. "Withoutskillsine- demiologicmethodologytheyareinthehandsofexpertsthatmaynotonlyhavean interestinhealth. Some health professionals may believe that only common sense is needed to conductepidemiologicalstudies,butthescienti cliteratureandthepublicdebate onhealthissuesindicatethatcommonsenseisofteninshortsupplyandmaynot thrivewithoutsomeformaltraining. Epidemiologic methods play a key role in identifying environmental, social, and genetic determinants of diseases. Clinical epidemiology addresses the tr- sitionfromdiseasetohealthortowardmortalityorsocialormedicalhandicaps. Publichealthepidemiologyaddressesthetransitionfrombeinghealthytobeingnot healthy. Descriptiveepidemiologyprovidesthediseasepatternthatisneededtolook athealthinabroadperspectiveandtosettheprioritiesright. Epidemiologyisabasic scienceofmedicinewhichaddresseskeyquestionssuchas"Whobecomesill?"and "Whatareimportantprognosticfactors?"Answerstosuchquestionsprovidethe basisforbetterpreventionandtreatmentofdiseases. Many people contributed to the writing of this book: medical students in Denmark,studentsofepidemiologyattheIEAEEPEsummercourseinFlorence, Italy,andstudentsofpublichealthinLosAngeles. Withouttechnicalassistance v vi Preface fromGitteNielsen,JenadeShelley,NinaHoheandPamMasangkaythebookwould neverhavematerialized. LosAngeles,California JornOlsen Odense,Denmark KaareChristensen IowaCity,Iowa JeffMurray Stockholm,Sweden AndersEkbom Contents Part I Descriptive Epidemiology 1 Measures of Disease Occurrence ...3 IncidenceandPrevalence ...4 Incidence...6 RatesandDynamicPopulations ...7 CalculatingObservationTime...9 Prevalence,Incidence,Duration ...10 MortalityandLifeExpectancy ...11 LifeExpectancy ...12 References...13 2 Estimates of Associations ...15 3 Age Standardization...19 4 Causes of Diseases ...23 References...28 5 Descriptive Epidemiology in Public Health...29 GraphicalModelsofCausalLinks ...33 References...35 6 Descriptive Epidemiology in Genetic Epidemiology...37 OccurrenceDatainGeneticEpidemiology ...37 ClusteringofTraitsandDiseasesinFamilies ...38 TheOccurrenceofGeneticDiseases ...40 References...41 7 Descriptive Epidemiology in Clinical Epidemiology...43 SuddenInfantDeathSyndrome(SIDS)...44 CytologicalScreeningforCervixCancer ...45 ChangesinTreatmentofJuvenileDiabetes ...46 References...47 vii viii Contents Part II Analytical Epidemiology 8 Design Options...51 CommonDesignsUsedtoEstimateAssociations...51 EcologicalStudy ...52 Case-ControlStudy...54 CohortStudy ...5 5 ExperimentalStudy ...56 Reference ...57 9 Follow-Up Studies ...59 TheNon-experimentalFollow-Up(Cohort)Study ...59 StudyingRiskasaFunctionofBMI ...60 LongitudinalExposureData...62 DifferentTypesofCohortorFollow-UpStudies...63 10 Case-Control Studies...67 Case-CohortSampling ...69 DensitySamplingofControls...69 Case-Non-caseStudy...71 PatientControls ...72 SecondaryIdenti cationoftheSourcePopulation ...74 Case-ControlStudiesUsingPrevalentCases...74 WhentoDoaCase-ControlStudy? ...77 References...78 11 The Cross-Sectional Study...79 12 The Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) ...81 Reference ...
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Descriptive Epidemiology.- Measures of Disease Occurrence.- Estimates of Associations.- Age Standardization.- Causes of Diseases.- Descriptive Epidemiology in Public Health.- Descriptive Epidemiology in Genetic Epidemiology.- Descriptive Epidemiology in Clinical Epidemiology.- Analytical Epidemiology.- Design Options.- Follow-Up Studies.- Case–Control Studies.- The Cross-Sectional Study.- The Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).- Analytical Epidemiology in Public Health.- Analytical Epidemiology in Genetic Epidemiology.- Analytical Epidemiology in Clinical Epidemiology.- Sources of Error.- Confounding and Bias.- Confounding.- Information Bias.- Selection Bias.- Making Inference and Making Decisions.- Sources of Error in Public Health Epidemiology.- Sources of Error in Genetic Epidemiology.- Sources of Error in Clinical Epidemiology.- Statistics in Epidemiology.- P Values.- Calculating Confidence Intervals.- Erratum to: An Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Professionals.- Erratum to: An Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Professionals.
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An Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Professionals

Jorn Olsen, Kaare Christensen, Jeff Murray, and Anders Ekbom

 

Who gets sick? What factors—genetic, environmental, social—contribute to their illness?

Easy enough to ask, but the answers are becoming increasingly complicated. Today, as the public worries about emerging diseases and the word epidemic is part of the general discussion, epidemiology should be a basic component of medical training, yet often it is undertaught or even neglected. Concise and readable while also rigorous and thorough, An Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Professionals goes beyond standard textbook content to ground the reader in scientific methods most relevant to the current health landscape and the evolution of evidence-based medicine—valuable keys to better understanding of disease process, effective prevention, and targeted treatment. This volume:

  • Presents material accessibly for readers who may have not studied epidemiology.
  • Focuses equally in descriptive and analytic branches of epidemiology.
  • Demonstrates applications of descriptive and analytic methods in public health, genetic epidemiology, and clinical epidemiology.
  • Includes a "Sources of Error" section addressing problems in inference and decision-making, selection bias, and other common pitfalls.

In addition to its usefulness for graduate students in public health and medical students in clinical epidemiology, An Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Professionals is a timely reference for practitioners needing a refresher in this important discipline.

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Concise and written at a basic level, for students with no previous training in epidemiology Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781461426004
Publisert
2012-07-01
Utgiver
Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
155 mm
Aldersnivå
Professional/practitioner, P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Biografisk notat

Jørn Olsen is Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health.