What is epidemiology?

The study of the distribution of health-related

states in specified populations PRINA ET AL.
The study of determinants influencing such Found anxiety in people aged 65+ higher in urban areas than rural
states areas of less developed countries.
The application of this to control health problems Found very low anxiety rates in China
Found a determinant could have been the stigmatisation of mental
Types of epidemiology illnesses in the revolution which made it undesirable to report
mental health issues
Descriptive: To describe health-related states.
Who? When? Where? Definition
This allows us to generate a hypothesis
Analytical: To explain why a health-related state
occurs. Why?
This allows us to test a hypothesis
BRIDGE ET. AL
Suicide rates for males and females aged 10-19 in 1996 - 2005 increased
dramatically in females in 2003
When investigated, potential determinants included alcohol use, access JOHN SNOW
to firearms, increased social networks, higher rates of untreated A physician and researcher
depression and suicide among young US troops Investigated the determinants of cholera epidemic in Soho,
1854
Found the determinant was the Broad Street pump as it was

WHAT IS A HYPOTHESIS? Basics of Origins contaminated. It was also the water company that people
used (whether it was upstream or downstream of the sewer
A prediction about the relationship between at
least two variables that can be tested Epidemiology openings)
INTERVENTION: The intervention was to close the Broad
Street pump

INDUCTION&DEDUCTION
Hypotheses
Deductive: Starts with a theory/belief/idea that
has no data behind it. You then create a
hypothesis, test it and gather data.
. PREVALENCE
Inductive: Observe the data available and find
patterns within it. Generate hypothesis from the The proportion of people in a population that presents a health-related
data and test it. If the data supports previous NULL&ALTERNATIVE: state at a given point in time
data, can build a theory Null: No relationship
Alternative: There is a relationship PREVALENCE =
number of cases observed at time\total number of individuals over time

Lifetime prevalence: the proportion of a population that at some point in

Prevalence their life have experienced the health-related state
TYPES OF HYPOTHESES
Deterministic: If A occurs then B will occur. IF &Incidence
AND THEN
HYPOTHESIS TESTING eg. If adolescents use social media excessively
Karl Popper's Falsification then they will suffer from low self esteem INCIDENCE
For a theory to be scientific, it needs to be able .
Probabilistic: The more exposure to X, the The proportion of a population that DEVELOPS the health-related state
to be falsified. over a given time period. New cases.
eg. you can't create a test to find out whether greater the risk of Y.
God is real or not, therefore it is not falsifiable, IF, THE GREATER THE RISK
therefore not scientific. eg. the higher the use of social media, the INCIDENCE=
greater the risk of low self esteem. number of new cases in time period/total individuals in the same period
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