Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health, Chapters 2 & 3

A Study Guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Chapter 1 & 2

Measures of Disease Frequency

Disease Frequency Slides

Epidemiology for the Uninitiated

By the end of the class, students will be able to:

1. Define and provide examples of a population;
2. Distinguish between a fixed and dynamic (or open) population;
3. Explain how epidemiologists create a case definition and discuss how the definition of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has changed over time;
4. Describe the key aspects of measuring disease occurrence;
5. Define and distinguish between cumulative incidence, incidence rate, and prevalence;
6. Describe the mathematical relationship between the measures of disease frequency
7. Provide examples of commonly used measures of disease frequency in public health
8. Describe the purpose of standardization.
9. Interpret the distribution of disease in a population according to time, place, and person.
10. Describe the composition of a rate in terms of the numerator and denominator, and explain the relationship between them and the importance of time.
11. Explain the use of rates for comparative purposes.
12. Define "attack rate" and use it to identify a vehicle of transmission in a common source outbreak of disease.

Answer the even numbered questions posed by the learning objectives for this class session complete all of the exercise questions posed in Chapters 1 and 2 of the Study Guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Do so without referring to the answers in the back of the book. Post those answers under the appropriate drop box and then compare your answers to those in the book. If I see language in your answers that comes from those in the back of the book, then I will assume you just went to the answers to paraphrase or derive your responses and I will not give you any credit for your answers. So do your work independently of those answers in the rear of the text.