Epidemiology
Assignment 1
If you read the "Health" page (either paper or web-based) of any major news source (e.g., The New York Times, CNN), reports of the occurrence of health outcomes are common headlines. For example, you may see the following or similar headlines:
"Breast Cancer Increasing in Asian-American Women"
"Teenage Smoking at an All-Time Low"
Have you ever wondered where this information comes from and what it really means?
Governmental agencies and other organizations routinely collect descriptive epidemiological statistics on many health outcomes. For example, statistics on the occurrence of cancer in the United States have been continuously collected since the early 1970s through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute.
For this Case Study Assignment, you will analyze and interpret descriptive epidemiologic statistics. To prepare for this Assignment, review the material presented in the textbook.
A case study worksheet will be provided by your instructor for this Assignment in the form of a Microsoft Word document. Download the worksheet and type your answers directly into the document to complete the Assignment. Be sure that your completed worksheet contains your responses to all questions.
Assignment 2:
After gaining information and advice from your peers in the Discussion, this Assignment will allow you to practice individually and increase your skills with measures of disease frequency. Your goal for this Assignment is to compute and interpret measures of disease frequency.
To prepare for this Assignment, participate in the Discussion to clarify any questions you may have about the material presented in the textbook, demonstration video, or any chapter questions at the ends of the assigned chapters.
A problem set will be generated in Blackboard for you to complete. Copy and paste the problem set into a Word document and complete all problems, showing your work. Be sure that your completed problem set includes your responses to all questions.
Prior to submitting your Measures of Disease Frequency Problem Set, review the Problem Set Assignment Rubric located in the Course Information page. You should submit your completed problem set to the Assignment link and NOT in the area where the problem sets are generated.
Readings
• Aschengrau, A., & Seage, G. R., III. (2014). Essentials of epidemiology in public health (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
o Chapter 2, "Measures of Disease Frequency" (pp. 33-58)
Chapter 2 explores the characteristics of measuring disease frequency. It examines how disease definitions are continually changing and describes how to calculate measures of disease occurrence and frequency.
o Chapter 4, "Sources of Public Health Data" (pp. 79-100)
This chapter explores multiple sources of public health data. It also examines the issues associated with using these types of data sources.
o Chapter 5, "Descriptive Epidemiology" (pp. 101-142)
Chapter 5 defines and describes the characteristics of descriptive epidemiology. It identifies the main uses of descriptive epidemiology and discusses the process of developing hypotheses about causal relationships.
Media
• Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (Producer). (n.d.). Module 2: Fundamentals of epidemiology - Measuring health and disease [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.aptrweb.org/?mod2_video_measuring
Optional Activities
Each module offers suggested Optional Activities that are aligned to that module's course content. Although these activities are not submitted, posted, or graded, it is highly recommended that you take advantage of these opportunities to further your knowledge and experience with epidemiology.
• Aschengrau, A., & Seage, G. R., III. (2014). Essentials of epidemiology in public health (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
o Chapter 2 Interactive Flashcards
Retrieved from http://publichealth.jbpub.com/aschengrau/flashcards_chapter.cfm?chapter=2
Work through these flashcards to deepen your understanding of the concepts presented in Chapter 2.
o Chapter 4 Interactive Flashcards
Retrieved from http://publichealth.jbpub.com/aschengrau/flashcards_chapter.cfm?chapter=4
Review the interactive flashcards to check your understanding of the concepts presented in Chapter 4.
o Chapter 5 Interactive Flashcards
Retrieved from http://publichealth.jbpub.com/aschengrau/flashcards_chapter.cfm?chapter=5
Work through these flashcards to deepen your understanding of the concepts presented in Chapter 5.
• University of Washington, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. (2014). Data interpretation for public health professionals [Online course]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nwcphp.org/training/opportunities/online-courses/data-interpretation-for-public-health-professionals
Work through this module on data interpretation from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. You will have the opportunity to review important epidemiologic and biostatistic measures.
Optional Resources
• Coggin, D., Rose, G., & Barker, D. J. P. (2003). Quantifying disease in populations. Epidemiology for the Uninitiated (4th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/publications/epidemiology-uninitiated/2-quantifying-disease-populations
• Ibrahim, M., Alexander, L., Shy, C., & Farr, S. (1999). Incidence vs. prevalence. ERIC Notebook. Retrieved from http://cphp.sph.unc.edu/trainingpackages/ERIC/eric_notebook_2.pdf
• Ibrahim, M., Alexander, L., Shy, C., & Farr, S. (2000). Calculating person-time. ERIC Notebook. Retrieved from http://cphp.sph.unc.edu/trainingpackages/ERIC/eric_notebook_9.pdf
• Ibrahim, M., Alexander, L., Shy, C., & Deming, S. (2001). Common measures and statistics in epidemiological literature. ERIC Notebook. Retrieved fromhttp://cphp.sph.unc.edu/trainingpackages/ERIC/eric_notebook_17.pdf