HLT 362V Topic 5 Discussion 1
Describe how epidemiological data influences changes in health practices. Provide an example and explain what data would be
... [Show More] necessary to make a change in practice.
Answer
Epidemiology is 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 (CDC, 2012). Epidemiology is a quantitative discipline that relies on a working knowledge of probability, statistics, and sound research methods. Epidemiology is a method of causal reasoning based on developing and testing hypotheses grounded in such scientific fields as biology, behavioral sciences, physics, and ergonomics to explain health-related behaviors, states, and events. Epidemiology is not just a research activity but an integral component of public health, providing the foundation for directing practical and appropriate public health action based on this science and causal reasoning.
Epidemiology is concerned with the frequency and pattern of health events in a population. Frequency refers not only to the number of health events such as the number of cases of meningitis or diabetes in a population, but also to the relationship of that number to the size of the population. The resulting rate allows epidemiologists to compare disease occurrence across different populations. Pattern refers to the occurrence of health-related events by time, place, and person. Time patterns may be annual, seasonal, weekly, daily, hourly, weekday versus weekend, or any other breakdown of time that may influence disease or injury occurrence. Place patterns include geographic variation, urban/rural differences, and location of work sites or schools. Personal characteristics include demographic factors which may be related to risk of illness, injury, or disability such as age, sex, marital status, and socioeconomic status, as well as behaviors and environmental exposures.
Epidemiology is also used to search for determinants, or the causes and other factors that influence the occurrence of disease and other health-related events. Epidemiologists assume that illness does not occur randomly in a population, but happen when the right accumulation of risk factors or determinants exists in an individual. The findings provide sufficient evidence to direct prompt and effective public health control and prevention measures.
Epidemiologic methods have been developed and applied to chronic diseases, injuries, birth defects, maternal-child health, occupational health, and environmental health. Epidemiologists have also started looking at behaviors related to health and well-being, such as amount of exercise and seat belt use. With the recent explosion in molecular methods, epidemiologists can make important strides in examining genetic markers of disease risk (CDC, 2012).
When a patient presents with a diarrheal disease, both the epidemiologist and the medical practitioner are interested in establishing the correct diagnosis. However, while the practitioner usually focuses on treating and caring for the individual through a review of symptoms, timeline of events leading up to the illness, and taking stool samples for a definitive diagnosis, the epidemiologist focuses on identifying the exposure or source that caused the illness especially the water source for the community, age and gender of those affected, the primary water source of the population, similar foods eaten at the same restaurant, the number of other persons who may have been similarly exposed, the sanitary habits of each individual affected and their families, the potential for further spread in the community; and interventions to prevent additional cases or recurrences. For example, members of a community present to the ER with abdominal cramping, diarrhea, vomiting and weight loss. The symptoms are all of the same nature for populations receiving their water from a well system. The epidemiologist will test the well water as well as the water that feeds the well upstream and the water down stream of the well. The well water is determined contaminated from run-off upstream from the well. Further study reveals poor sanitary habits of the community due to no toilet facilities so the population of the community uses the bathroom wherever. Members of the population do not realize they are contaminating their water source upstream from the well. Education regarding these habits as well as establishing bathrooms in this community are paramount to the wellness of the community.
References:
CDC (2012). Introduction to epidemiology. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section1.html [Show Less]