Title: Descriptive Epidemiology
1Descriptive Epidemiology
- Tuesday 1/22/02
- PH 2711
- Jan Risser
2Descriptive Epidemiology
- The study of the occurrence of disease or other
health-related characteristics in human
populations by - Age
- Sex
- Race
- Occupation
- Social class
- Geographic location
- From A Dictionary of Epidemiology. Fourth
Edition. John M Last
3Descriptive Epidemiology
- The major characteristics in descriptive
epidemiology can be classified under the
headings - Person
- Place
- Time
4Descriptive Epidemiology
- Concerned with the study of the distribution of
disease in population groups - Systematic summary of the basic data on health
and the major causes of disease and death
5Descriptive Epidemiology
- Objectives
- to summarize trends in health
- to compare groups
- to provide a basis for planning, provision, and
evaluation of health services - to identify problems to be studied by analytic
methods
6Distribution
- When distribution of rates is not uniform
according to person, place, and time - Epidemiologists can identify high-risk groups
- often for prevention purposes
- Generate causal hypotheses
- based on agent-host-environment paradigm
7Person
- Age
- Sex (biological parameters)
- Gender (social parameters)
- race/ethnicity
- Education
- Socio-economic Status
8Descriptive Epidemiology
- Person
- Age often the most important determinant among
personal characteristics - Sex differences in morbidity and mortality.
- Males have higher mortality
- Females have higher morbidity
- Race/ethnicity
- Is this a proxy for socio-economic status?
9Death rate per 100,000. 1980-1998 TexasBy Age
and by Sex
10Suicide rate per 100,000. 1980-1998 Texas By
sex and age.
11Emphysema and Bronchitis rates per 100,000.
1980-1998 Texas. By sex and age
12Pertussis
Scarlet Fever
Diphtheria Meningitis Polio
Rubella
Mumps Chickenpox
13Race/ethnic
- How to classify and for what purpose
- Genetics
- Cultural factors
- Proxy for socio-economic status
- Social class
- Prestige
- Wealth
- Power
14Race/ethnicity
- Prior to 1970 census was classified as
- White
- All others (all non-whites)
- Non-whites had marked disadvantage with respect
to mortality which still persists - These differences may represent differences
associated with the environment
15Race/ethnicity
- 1970 Census
- White, non-White
- 1980 and 1990 Census 16 categories 2 write in
- American Indian/Alaskan Native/Aleut
- Asian or Pacific Islander
- White, Black
- Hispanic and Not Hispanic
- 2000 Census 15 categories 3 write-in more
than 1 answer
16Race/ethnicity
- 2000 Census
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino,
Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese - Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or
Charmorro, Samoan, Other Pacific Islander - White
- Black
- http//www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d61a.pdf
17Race/ethnicity
- Prestige
- Wealth
- Power
- Social Class
- Occupation
- Marital status
- Nativity
- Family size
- Birth order
- Maternal age
- Parental Deprivation
18Mortality by social class in England and
Wales1949 - 1953
SMR ratio for entire population of males aged
20-64 Infant mortality per 1000 live births
19Dental health by family income
Filled Teeth
Decayed Teeth
20Place
- Natural and political boundaries
- Urban/rural
- International Comparisons
- Migrants
21(No Transcript)
22Urban vs. Rural
23Migrant studies
24Time
- Secular trends
- changes over a long period of time
- Cyclic changes
- Recurrent alterations in the frequency of disease
- Clusters
- Cohort analysis
25Analysis birth cohort
Does the prevalence of disease decline with age?
26Analysis birth cohort - Survey date
27Analysis birth cohort
28Analysis birth cohort
1960
1950
1920
1940
1930
29Deaths from TB
30Death from TB
31Deaths from TB
32TB by Birth Cohort