Working near farm fields may be hazardous to your health. A recent epidemiologic study
revealed a link between three agricultural pesticides and the
... [Show More] development of Parkinson’s
disease (Wang et al., 2011; UCLA, 2011). This link was initially suspected because of
higher rates of Parkinson’s in farmers and others living in rural areas. Researchers
analyzed risk estimates—for those working near the fields, not in them—and determined
an 80% increased risk for Parkinson’s. As demonstrated with this example, researchers
can begin to define the effects of exposure by comparing rates of disease from those
exposed to certain conditions and those not exposed. This, in turn, can lead to
development of interventions for the affected population.
In Weeks 5 and 6, you explored how the environment, genetics, and psychosocial
factors influence population health. This week, you will continue to examine the
association between risk factors and the etiology of disease by investigating measures of
effect. You will examine tools used to ascertain these measures (incidence, prevalence,
relative risk, and odds ratios), and you will consider how nurses use measures of effect to
make informed health care practice decisions. You will also begin Assignment 3.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze how measures of effect strengthen and support nursing practice
Determine a causal model that applies to a specific population health problem
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Friis, R. H., & Sellers, T. A. (2021). Epidemiology for public health practice (6th ed.). Jones
& Bartlett.
Review Chapter 3, “Measures of Morbidity and Mortality Used in
Epidemiology”
Chapter 9, “Measures of Effect”
Chapter 9 extends the discussion that began with Chapter 6 (which looked at ecologic,
cross-sectional, and case-control study designs) by introducing additional measures that
are useful in evaluating the potential implications of an exposure-disease association.
Tripepi, G. Jager, K. J., Dekker, F. W. & Zoccali, C. (2010). Measures of effect in
epidemiological research. Nephron Clinical Practice, 115 (2), c91–c93.
As noted by the authors of this article (2010), “Measuring the strength of
observed associations between a given risk factor (e.g., blood pressure)
and a given outcome (e.g., stroke) is an important goal in
epidemiological and clinical research” (p. c91). This article provides an
accessible overview of the terminology and various methods used to
measure associations in research.
Optional Resources
Krethong, P., Jirapaet, V., Jitpanya, C., & Sloan, R. (2008). A causal model of healthrelated quality of life in Tha [Show Less]