To study historically the rise and fall of disease in the population.
Community diagnosis.
Planning and evaluation.
Evaluation of individuals risks and chances.
Completing the natural history of disease.
Searching for causes and risk factors.
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Epidemiology Dr Lopamudra Samantaray Asst. Prof. Utkal University
INTRODUCTION Epi demio logy is derived from the Greek words, Epi : means upon. Demos : mean study of population or People. Logos: means the scientific study So, epidemiology is study of disease pattern in human population or s tudy of effects of multiple factors on human health.
According to Parkin 1873 ; Epidemiology is that branch of medical science which deals with epidemics. According to Clark 1965 ; Epidemiology is the study of various factors & conditions that determine the occurrence and distribution of health, disease, defect, disability & death among groups of individuals. According to Frost 1927 ; Epidemiology is the science of mass phenomena of infectious diseases.
DEFINITION The study of distribution and determinants of health related states in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems. Als o, epidemiology Is the basic science of public health. Provides insight regarding the nature, causes and extent of health disease. Provides information needed to plan and target resources appropriately.
Epidemiological Terms Epidemic: An outbreak of disease in a community in excess of normal expectation. Endemic: The constant presence of disease or infectious agent with in a geographical area or population group. Pandemic: An epidemic which spreads from country to country or over the whole world. Sporadic: The cases occur irregularly and haphazardly from time to time.
COMPONENTS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY Distribution of disease Disease frequency . Determinents of disease 1 2 3
AIMS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY To identify the etiological factor in disease pathogenesis. To demonstrate the data required for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of services for disease prevention, control, and treatment, as well as the establishment of priorities among those services . It describes the extent and distribution of health disease problems in the human population
PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY To study historically the rise and fall of disease in the population. Community diagnosis. Planning and evaluation. Evaluation of individuals risks and chances. Completing the natural history of disease. Searching for causes and risk factors.
1.)To study historically the rise and fall of disease in the population The pattern of health and disease in a community is never consistent. Fluctuations over both short and long time periods. Epidemiology is the study of disease profiles and time trends in the human population. We can make useful projections into the future and identify emerging health problems by studying these trends.
2.)Community Diagnosis An application of epidemiology. The identification and quantification of health problems in a community in terms of mortality rates and ratios is referred to as community diagnosis. Identification of at-risk individuals or groups, as well as those in need of health care.
3.)Planning And Evaluation It is about the distribution of health problems over time and space, which provides the fundamental foundation for planning and developing needed health services, as well as assessing the impact of these services on people's problems. Evaluation: Any measures taken to control or prevent a disease must be followed by an evaluation to determine whether the measures are effective in reducing disease frequency.
4.) Evaluation Of Individuals Risks And Chances One of the important tasks of epidemiologists is to make a statement about the degree of risk in a population.
5.)Completing The Natural History Of Disease Epidemiology is concerned with the entire spectrum of disease in the population. By studying disease patterns in the community in relation to agent, host and environmental factors is in better position to fill up the gaps in the natural history of disease than a clinician.
6.)Searching For Causes And Risk Factors Epidemiology helps to identify the causes and risk factors of diseases.
Methods of epidemiology
Epidemiological studies Descriptive Amount and distribution in populations person,place and time Analytic Test hypothesis, identify and quantify risk or exposure Experimental Study Types Field trials Preventive trials Community intervention trials Observational Study Types Case control Cohort Cross sectional Descriptive Study Types Case reports Case series Ecological Cross sectional
DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY
Descriptive epidemiological studies :- To know the situation i.e, what is the problem? , what are its manifestation? OR To describe the general characteristics of disease in relation to time, place ,person. Person: who is getting sick? Place: where is the sickness occurring? Time: when is the sickness occurring?
STEPS
DEFINING THE POPULATION The defined population needs to be large enough so that age, sex & other specified rate are meaningful. The community should be stable, without migration into & out of area. The defined population can be selected group such as age & sex- group, hospital patients, school children etc.
DEFINING THE DISEASE UNDER STUDY Once the population to be studied is fixed, the epidemiologist focus on the disease being investigated. So his concerned is to obtain an accurate, precise & valid definition of the disease. It is called as the operational definition.
DESCRIBING THE DISEASE BY TIME PLACE AND PERSON TIME DISTRIBUTION : The disease rate may vary by the time of its occurrence i.e. by week, month, year etc.
Three kinds of time trends of disease occurrence: Short term fluctuations : Common source epidemics - well of contaminated water; food poisoning. Propagated epidemics - person to person, arthropod vector, animal reservoir. E.g. Hepatitis A. Slow modern epidemics - road accidents, blood cancer, hypertension .
PLACE DISTRIBUTION Geographic pattern provides data regarding the cause of the disease. The geographic distribution of the disease varies because of variation in cultures, standard of living and external environments. The variations can be: International variations National variations Rural - urban variations Local distributions
PERSON DISTRIBUTION The disease should be described by age, sex, marital status, social class, behavior, other host factors etc.
MEASUREMENT OF DISEASE After defining the disease, the disease load should be measured in population. Disease should be measured in terms of mortality, disability and so on. has 2 aspects - prevalence and incidence.
COMPARING WITH KNOWN INDICES Comparisons between different populations, groups, sub groups. It is possible to arrive at conclusions to disease etiology.
FORMULATION OF AN ETIOLOGICAL HYPOTHESIS The descriptive epidemiology helps to formulate hypothesis relating to disease etiology. An epidemiological hypothesis should specify: The population The specific cause The expected outcome The dose response relationship The time response relationship
USES OF DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY It provides data regarding disease and types of disease problem. It provides clue to disease etiology. It provides data for planning, organizing and evaluating the preventive services. It contributes to research by describing variations.
1.) Case Report It consists of a careful and detailed report by one or more clinicians of unusual medical condition. It represents first clue in the identification of a new disease. It leads to formulation of new hypothesis . EXAMPLE: Intestinal obstruction was reported in a young child.Documents showed that this child received ROTA virus vaccine 3 months ago. A detailed report about this unusual event & exposure was published in journal. The investigator formulated a hypothesis that rota virus vaccine may have been responsible for the rare occurrence of this event.
2.) Case Series It is the only study which depend on Routine Surveillance . EXAMPLE:- 8 cases of lung cancer were admitted to different hospitals during same period of time. Taking history from these patients showed that they were miners. This unusual circumstance suggested that the miners may been exposed to something. Investigating this circumstance showed high concentration of gas at Radon Gas Agency (RGA) (LNG). A hypothesis was formulated that lung cancer is related to exposure in RGA (LNG).
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES 1.) They formulate a new hypothesis for disease occurrence. 1.) For case report, the presence of any exposure may be coincidental because it is based on a single experience. 2.) They act as trigger as they stimulate the start of analytic studies to be conducted to identify the risk factors of the disease. 2.) Lack of the comparison group in case series can either obscure the relationship or suggest an association which is not actually exist. 3.) Modification of the case series can be obtained by using a comparison group. 3.) Both of them cannot be used to show the causal association,i.e. Can not be used to test the hypothesis.
3.) Ecological study The source of data is the entire population. It compares disease frequencies:- Between different population during the same period of time or In the same population at different time. It compares 2 quantitative variables. EXAMPLE :- relation between one of climatic indicator (Temp.) and frequency of disease.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Ecological Studies ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Formulates new hypothesis 1.)They cannot be used for testing hypothesis 2.) Quick and Cheap 2.) Lack of ability to control
4.) Cross sectional study Population Sample With exposure &with disease With exposure & without disease Without exposure & without disease Without exposure & with disease
EXAMPLE :- During the year 2019, a representative sample of secondary school children in a city X (n=400) were asked about consumption of high caloric diet and examined to detect obesity. Secondaryschool children Sample n=400 Consumption of high caloric diet with obesity n=20 Consumption of high caloric diet without obesity n=60 No consumption of high caloric diet with obesity n=16 No consumption of high caloric diet without obesity n=304
Advantages & Disadvantages of Cross- sectional study ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES 1.)Formulation of hypothesis 1.)Can’t be used to test hypothesis 2.)Suitable for chronic diseases with long latency 2.)Can’t be used in acute diseases of short duration 3.)Quick and cheap 3.)Not suitable for rare diseases
ANALYTIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
Analytic epidemiology To identify causal relationships between some risk factors and occurence of disease. Try to answer why the disease occurs. Their types are:- 1.) case control 2.)cohort :- Prospective & Retrospective 3.) Comparative cross-sectional
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY TYPE (1.) Case control study The investigator enrolls a group of people without disease (controls). Investigator then compare previous exposures between the two groups. The control group provides an estimate of baseline or expected amount of exposure in that population. EXAMPLE:- Study to determine an association between lung cancer and radon exposure. Study to determine association between salmonella infection and eating at a fast food restaurant.
(2.) Cohort Study Study population is grouped by exposure status. Groups are then followed to determine if they develop the outcome EXAMPLE :- study to determine if smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer. Types EXPOSURE OUTCOME Prospective Assessed at beginning of study Followed into the future for outcome Retrospective Assessed at some point in the past Outcome has already occured
TYPES OF COHORT STUDY
Prospective C.S - It is the one in which the outcome has not yet occurred at the time the investigation begins. Retrospective C.S - It is the one in which outcome has all occurred before the start of the investigation. Mixed/Combination of both - In this type of study both Prospective & Retrospective elements are combined.
STEPS OF COHORT STUDY
ANALYSIS OF COHORT STUDY Cigarette smoking Developed lung cancer Did not develop lung cancer Total Yes 70 6930 7000 No 03 2997 3000 Data are analysed in terms of Incidence rate of outcome among exposed and non-exposed e.g. Cigarette smoking & lung cancer Among smokers : 70/7000 = 10 per 1000 Among non-smokers : 3/3000 = 1 per 1000
ADVANTAGES:- Incidence can be calculated. Several possible outcomes related to exposure can be studied. Provide direct estimate of related risk. Bias can be minimized. DISADVANTAGES:- Involve large no. of people. Expensive. Unsuitable for investigating uncommon diseases. Takes long time to complete study and obtain results. Administrative problems : funding. Study may itself alter cohort’s behaviour.
(3.)Cross-sectional study A cross-sectional study is defined as a type of observational research that analysis data of variables collected at one given point in time across a sample population or a pre-defined subset. This study is also known as Cross- Sectional Analysis.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY Active trial to change disease determinant by the investigator who allocates the exposure & follow the subjects. Can be viewed as a type of prospective cohort study. ETHICAL POINTS must be considered : It should have beneficial effect to patients, not to harm anyone by intervention. Participants should know what the experiment is and have right to refuse. If any unplanned complications occur to any participant he should be excluded from the trial and treated.
(1.) Clinical trials:- It is usually used to assess efficacy of a new line drug or to compare 2 types of drugs. Diseased subjects are randomly allocated into 2 groups, who are given “new drug” and “control group” (who are given usual drug or no drug). Results are assessed by comparing health improvement of the 2 groups at end of trial. Example: surgical or medical treatment of peptic ulcer
(2.) Community trials:- Involve people who are not diseased and the sample is drawn from community. Data collection takes place in the field. EXAMPLE:- in studies carried out to assess the efficacy of new vaccine. The participant are divided into 2 groups: one who is experimental group ( will take the new vaccine) and 2nd is the control group ( will not take vaccine). The participant will be followed to compare the level of occurence of the disease in both groups. Therefore, these groups should be alike as much as possible in all aspects other than new drug.
MODES OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS Development of an assessment method, known as RCT. In this type, the people being studied are randomly allocated one or other of the different treatments under study. It is really an epidemiological experiment. RCT is a gold standard for clinical trial.
STEPS/DESIGN IN CONDUCTING RCT
The protocol specifies : goal and objectives of the study , Criteria & preparation of questions to be answered for selected study group and control group, Size of the sample, Treatment to be applied – when, where & to what kind of patients . 1. Drawing up a protocol
2. Selection of reference and experimental population 1. Reference or Target population: It is the population to which the findings of the trial are expected to be applicable. A reference population may be as mankind in specific age, sex, occupation or social groups. 2. Experiment or Study population: It is derived from the reference population. It is actual population that participates in experimental study.
3. Randomization It is a statistical procedure by which the participants are allocated into groups called study and control groups. Randomization is an attempt to eliminate bias and allow for comparability. Every individual gets an equal chance of being allocated into group.
4. Manipulation Having formed the study and control group, the next step is to intervene or manipulate the study group by deliberate application or withdrawal or reduction of casual factor as laid down in the protocol. This manipulation creates an independent variable whose effect is then determined by measurement of final outcome which constitute the dependent variable.
5. Follow up - This implies examination of experimental & control group subjects at definite interval of time in a standard manner of time, under the same frame until the final outcome has determined. 6. Assessment of outcome - The final step is the assessment of outcome of trial in terms of : Positive result Negative result.
NON-RANDOMIZED TRIALS Due to ethical, administrative and cost; it is not always possible to resort to randomized controlled trials. This approach is crude. As there is no randomization, degree of comparability is low and chances of spurious results will be high. E.g. Useful to known whether specific therapy is valuable for particular disease, to determine the appropriate dose, to investigate adverse reactions.
Merits - Scientifically ideal method. Removes a large no. of biases. Builds up ‘faith’ in the findings of the study. Ensures relationships between exposure and outcome. Demerits - Need long time. Have ethical issues. Expensive.
Observation is a way of gathering data by watching behavior or events. The researchers simply "observe" a group of people without "doing" anything to the study group. Example:- There are several situations that require nurses to use the observation method for data collection, such as behavior & attributes of the patients, their families, hospital staff, & so on. OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES
CARE ( Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics journals created by UGC ) ( OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES) Research abstract on Observational Study:- An observational study of adherence to home nebulizer therapy among children with asthma. Published online 2021 Feb 4 Deyu Zhao, Dehui Chen, Ling Li, YingXue Zou , Yunxiao Shang, Chonglin Zhang, Li Zhang, Jiahua Pan, Qiang Chen, Tao Ai, and Qian Ni Background: The prevalence of pediatric asthma in China is approximately 3%, and asthma remains poorly controlled in many of these patients. This study assessed the rate of adherence to home nebulizer treatment in pediatrics patients in China. Methods: The CARE study was a 12-week, multicentre, prospective, observational study across 12 tertiary hospitals in China. Patients were aged 0–14 years, clinically diagnosed with asthma and prescribed home nebulizer inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy for ⩾3 months. The primary endpoint was electronically monitored treatment adherence. Patients attended onsite visits at 0, 4, 8 and 12 weeks to assess asthma control, severity and treatment adherence (recorded by electronic monitoring devices and caregivers).
CARE ( Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics journals created by UGC ) Results: The full analysis set included 510 patients. Median treatment adherence reported by electronic monitoring devices was 69.9%. The proportion of patients with well-controlled asthma increased from 12.0% at baseline to 77.5% at visit 4. Increased time between asthma diagnosis and study enrolment was a significant predictor for better adherence [coefficient: 0.01, p = 0.0138; 95% confidence] and asthma control (odds ratio = 1.001, p = 0.0498; 95%). Negative attitude to treatment by the caregiver was associated with poorer asthma control. Conclusions: Adherence to home nebulization, a widely used treatment for asthma, was high among Chinese pediatric patients. Asthma control improved with increasing treatment duration. These results suggest that home nebulization of ICS is an effective and recommendable long-term treatment for pediatric patients with asthma.
CONCLUSION Epidemiology is an valuable tool for providing the rational basis on which effective prevention programmes can be planned and implemented and for conducting clinical investigations that contribute to the control of the disease and to the improvement of the human suffering associated with it.
References Suresh k Sharma. Text book of Nursing Research & statistics, 2 nd Edition. Elsevier publication, 2011. Samta Soni, “Textbook of Advanced Nursing Practice”, 1 st edition Jaypee Publication; 2013