SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

AGENDA

✓ Epidemiology

✓ The Epidemiology Triangle

✓ Social epidemiology

✓ Concepts of social epidemiology

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EPIDEMIOLOGY
The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in
specified human populations and the application of this study to control of health
problems.

Consists of Three Greek Words

Epi = among

Demos = people

Logos = doctrine

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TWO FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS

1) Human disease does not occur at random.

2) Human disease has causal and preventive

factors that can be identified through
systematic investigation of human
populations.

The functions of epidemiology lead to healthier, safer communities.

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OBJECTIVES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

1) To identify the etiology or the cause of a disease

and the true risk factors - that is, factors that
increase a person’s risk for a disease.
2) To determine the extent of disease found in the
community.
3) To study the natural history and prognosis of
disease.

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RESEARCHERS ACHIEVE THE FUNCTIONS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY BY
USING THE “FIVE W’S” :

1) Who - who is effected by the event or disease?

2) What - what exactly is impacting the community?
3) When - when exactly the event occurred?
4) Where - where the disease or event originated?
5) Why - why an event took place?
THE EPIDEMIOLOGY TRIANGLE
▪ Epidemiologist have created a model to help explain the multifaceted phenomena
of disease transmission: the epidemiology triangle.
▪ The interrelatedness of 3 factors contribute to the outbreak of a disease:
1) Host (is the organism who is exposed to and harbor a disease)
2) Agent (the agent is the pathogen, including a virus, bacterium, parasite or
chemicals, radiation, heat, natural toxins)
3) Environmental circumstances (are surroundings and conditions external to the
human that cause or allow the disease or allow disease transmission)

Environmental factors can include the biological aspects as well as the social, cultural, and
physical aspects of the environment.

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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODEL OF AN INJURY CAUSED BY A
MOTORCYCLE COLLISION

HOST

ENVIRONME
NT AGENT

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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODEL OF AN INJURY CAUSED BY A
MOTORCYCLE COLLISION

HOST
RIDER

ENVIRONME AGENT
NT
COLLISION
SLIPPERY
(mechanical
ROADWAY energy)
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SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

▪ Social epidemiology is a branch of epidemiology that

focuses particularly on the effects of social-structural
factors on states of health.
▪ Social epidemiology assumes that the distribution of
advantages and disadvantages in a society reflects the
distribution of health and disease.
▪ Social epidemiology proposes to identify societal
characteristics that affect the pattern of disease and health
distribution in a society and to understand its
mechanisms.

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INITIAL QUESTION OF SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

- What effect do social factors have on individual

and population health?
CONCEPTS OF SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

➢ Social inequality

➢ Social relationships

➢ Social capital

➢ Work stress
SOCIAL INEQUALITY

▪ Social inequality can be defined as the

unequal distribution of goods, services and
opportunities within a group or society;
▪ Social inequality refers to relational processes
in society that have the effect of limiting or
harming a group's social status, social class,
and social circle.
▪ Social inequality is linked to racial inequality,
gender inequality, and wealth inequality.

Health inequalities refer to the systematic differences in health that exist between
socioeconomic positions, social classes, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations or other
social groups with differentiated access to material and non-material resources.
 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

▪ Social relationships—both quantity and quality—

affect mental health, health behavior, physical
health, and mortality risk.

▪ Sociologists have played a central role in

establishing the link between social relationships
and health outcomes, identifying explanations for
this link, and discovering social variation (e.g., by
gender and race) at the population level.
SOCIAL CAPITAL

❑ Social capital can be defined as those features of social

structures – such as levels of interpersonal trust and norms of
reciprocity, civic engagement, and mutual aid - which act as
resources for individuals and facilitate collective action.

❑ Social capital may function on different levels:

a. the macro-level (i.e. historical, social, political, and economic
features of societies),
b. the meso-level (i.e. features of organizations and
neighborhoods),
c. the micro-level - individual behaviors (e.g. social
participation), and individual norms (e.g. trust and reciprocity).
WORK STRESS

▪ Work and employment are of critical importance for health.

▪ Work-related stress is a growing problem around the world

that affects not only the health and well-being of employees,
but also the productivity of organisations.

▪ An imbalance between high efforts and low rewards in terms

of esteem, salary, job promotion or job security leads to
negative emotions and harmful stress.

▪ Some of the many causes of work-related stress include long

hours, heavy workload, job insecurity and conflicts with co-
workers or bosses.
 THANK YOU

Nino Chkhaberidze
PhdC

nino.chkhaberidze@tsu.ge
www.tsu.ge