Epidemiology Matters offers a new approach to understanding and identifying the causes of disease -- and with it, how to prevent disease and improve human health. Utilizing visual explanations and examples, this text provides an accessible, step-by-step introduction to the fundamentals of epidemiologic study, from design to analysis. Across fourteen chapters, Epidemiology Matters teaches the individual competencies that underlie the conduct of an epidemiologic study: identifying populations; measuring exposures and health indicators; taking a sample; estimating associations between exposures and health indicators; assessing evidence for causes working together; assessing internal and external validity of results. With its consequentialist approach -- designing epidemiologic studies that aim to inform our understanding, and therefore improve public health -- Epidemiology Matters is an introductory text for the next generation of students in medicine and public health.
Epidemiology Matters offers a new approach to understanding and identifying the causes of disease -- and with it, how to prevent disease and improve human health. Utilizing visual explanations and examples, this text provides an accessible, step-by-step introduction to the fundamentals of epidemiologic study, from design to analysis. Across fourteen chapters, Epidemiology Matters teaches the individual competencies that underlie the conduct of an epidemiologic study: identifying populations; measuring exposures and health indicators; taking a sample; estimating associations between exposures and health indicators; assessing evidence for causes working together; assessing internal and external validity of results. With its consequentialist approach -- designing epidemiologic studies that aim to inform our understanding, and therefore improve public health -- Epidemiology Matters is an introductory text for the next generation of students in medicine and public health.
This title provides the reader with the knowledge and skills to design, analyse, and correctly interpret family-based studies, which are increasingly being used to explore life course epidemiology
POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCE formalizes an emerging discipline at the crossroads of social and medical sciences, demography, and economics--an emerging approach to population studies that represents a seismic shift in how traditional health sciences measure and observe health events. Bringing together theories and methods from diverse fields, this text provides grounding in the factors that shape population health. The overall approach is one of consequentialist science: designing creative studies that identify causal factors in health with multidisciplinary rigor. Distilled into nine foundational principles, this book guides readers through population science studies that strategically incorporate: · macrosocial factors · multilevel, lifecourse, and systems theories · prevention science fundamentals · return on investment · equity and efficiency Harnessing the power of scientific inquiry and codifying the knowledge base for a burgeoning field, POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCE arms readers with tools to shift the curve of population health.
Using clinical examples and citing liberally from the peer-reviewed literature, this book shows how statistical priniciples can improve medical decisions.
This concise, conceptually rich, and accessible book is a rallying cry for a return to the study and discussion of epidemiologic theory: what it is, why it matters, how it has changed over time, and its implications for improving population health and promoting health equity. By tracing its history and contours from ancient societies on through the development of--and debates within--contemporary epidemiology worldwide, Dr. Krieger shows how epidemiologic theory has long shaped epidemiologic practice, knowledge, and the politics of public health.
The amount of hazardous waste in the United States has been estimated at 275 million metric tons in licensed sites alone. Is the health of Americans at risk from exposure to this toxic material? This volume, the first of several on environmental epidemiology, reviews the available evidence and makes recommendations for filling gaps in data and improving health assessments. The book explores: Whether researchers can infer health hazards from available data. The results of substantial state and federal programs on hazardous waste dangers. The book presents the results of studies of hazardous wastes in the air, water, soil, and food and examines the potential of biological markers in health risk assessment. The data and recommendations in this volume will be of immediate use to toxicologists, environmental health professionals, epidemiologists, and other biologists.
It is an inescapable fact that causation, both generally (in populations), and specifically (in individuals), cannot be observed. Rather, causation is determined when it can be inferred that the risk of an observed injury or disease from a plausible cause is greater than the risk from other plausible causes. While many causal evaluations performed in forensic medicine are simplified by the fact that the circumstances surrounding the onset of an injury or disease clearly rules out competing causes (eg, a death following a fall), there are many cases that present a more complicated picture. It is these types of investigations, in which an analysis of comparative levels of risk from competing causes is needed to arrive at a reliable and accurate determination of the most likely cause, that forensic epidemiology (FE) is directed at.In Forensic Epidemiology, the authors present the legal and scientific theories underlying the methods by which risk is used in the investigation of individual causation. Methods and principles from epidemiology are combined with those from a multitude of other disciplines, including general medicine, pharmacology, forensic pathology, biostatistics, and biomechanics, inter alia, as a basis for investigating the plausibility of injury and disease exposures and mechanisms. The ultimate determination of the probability of causation (PC) results from an assessment of the strength of association of the investigated relationship in the individual, based on a comparison between the risk of disease or injury from the investigated exposure versus the risk of the same disease or injury occurring at the same point in time in the individual, but absent the exposure. The principles and methods described in Forensic Epidemiology will be of interest to those who work and study in the fields of forensic medicine, epidemiology, and the law. - Historical perspective on how epidemiologic evidence of causation has been used in courts in the US and Europe - Theory and science underlying the use of risk to assess individual causation - Primer on epidemiologic methods, and various measures used to arrive at individualized comparative risk assessments and PC - The use of statistical methods applied to publicly available data for ad hoc analysis of PC applicable to the specific circumstances of a case - Background on complementary disciplines, including forensic pathology, death investigation, biomechanics, and survival analysis - Examples of applied FE in the investigation of traffic injury and death, automotive and other product defect litigation, medical negligence, and criminal prosecution and defense
Authoritative new text from the experts in GI populationstudies This book covers both key methodological issues and the mostimportant information in the field, disease by disease. It focuseson population-based information and studies looking at principlesand approaches to diagnosis and treatment of diseases. GI Epidemiology brings together world authorities inmultiple disciplines for the very first time, to create one clearand comprehensive source. The bulk of the chapters are divided intotwo parts, covering methodological issues and the epidemiology ofspecific GI diseases. Each chapter begins with a list of keypoints, followed by a review written in a clear and simplestyle. The methodologic chapters cover evidence-based medicine,meta-analysis, systematic reviews, genetic and molecularepidemiology, clinical trials, questionnaire design, and healtheconomics. The disease-specific chapters note the current gaps inknowledge and suggest areas for further study. GI Epidemiology serves as both a useful refresher and areliable reference on the methods and techniques used inepidemiological studies for consultants and researchers ingastroenterology. It is also an invaluable tool for fellows/trainees ingastroenterology, candidates for recertification in the combineddisciplines of gastroenterology, pediatric gastroenterology andcolorectal surgery, and anyone completing MPH training.
A NEW AND ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR THE PRACTICE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual is a definitive guide to investigating acute public health events on the ground and in real time. Assembled and written by experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other leading public health agencies, it offers current and field-tested guidance for every stage of an outbreak investigation -- from identification to intervention and other core considerations along the way. Modeled after Michael Gregg's seminal book Field Epidemiology, this CDC manual ushers investigators through the core elements of field work, including many of the challenges inherent to outbreaks: working with multiple state and federal agencies or multinational organizations; legal considerations; and effective utilization of an incident-management approach. Additional coverage includes: � Updated guidance for new tools in field investigations, including the latest technologies for data collection and incorporating data from geographic information systems (GIS) � Tips for investigations in unique settings, including healthcare and community-congregate sites � Advice for responding to different types of outbreaks, including acute enteric disease; suspected biologic or toxic agents; and outbreaks of violence, suicide, and other forms of injury For the ever-changing public health landscape, The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual offers a new, authoritative resource for effective outbreak response to acute and emerging threats. *** Oxford University Press will donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to the CDC Foundation, an independent nonprofit and the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's critical health protection work. To learn more about the CDC Foundation, visit www.cdcfoundation.org.
