Preface
Understanding human health—defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”i—is vital....
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What is Epidemiology?
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Define epidemiology Provide examples illustrating each of the 5 parts of the epidemiology definition Describe the...
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Surveillance
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Define epidemic and explain that word’s relationship to epidemiology Define surveillance and explain how...
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Measures of Disease Frequency
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Define and calculate prevalence Classify individuals as either at risk of disease or not Define and calculate...
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Random Error
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Define random error and differentiate it from bias Illustrate random error with examples Interpret a p-value...
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Introduction to 2 x 2 Tables, Epidemiologic Study Design, and Measures of...
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Interpret data found in a 2 x 2 table Compare and contrast the 4 most common types of epidemiologic studies:...
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Bias
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Define bias, and differentiate it from random error Differentiate between the different types of bias common to...
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Confounding
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Explain the concept of confounding, and how it affects the results of epidemiologic studies Reiterate the criteria...
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Effect Modification
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Explain what effect modification is Differentiate between confounders and effect modifiers Conduct a stratified...
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Study Designs Revisited
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Compare and contrast the strengths and limitations of cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, and randomized...
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Causality and Causal Thinking in Epidemiology
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Discuss the 3 tenets of human disease causality Explain how causal thinking plays a role in the epidemiology...
View ArticleAppendix 1: How to Read an Epidemiologic Study
Key Takeaways A standard epidemiology study (not counting the abstract—more on this later) has 4 parts: Introduction Methods Results Discussion Usually these are labelled, but not always. Sometimes...
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Screening and Diagnostic Testing
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: Differentiate between screening and diagnostic testing Calculate and interpret common test characteristics Discuss...
View ArticleAcknowledgements
Many, many thanks to Kelly Johnson for her extensive help with edits and suggestions on earlier drafts of this book. I received further useful feedback from Lindsay Miller, Alicia Bublitz, Leanne...
View ArticleCreative Commons License
This work is licensed by Marit L. Bovbjerg (©2020) under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC) You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in...
View ArticleVersioning
This page provides a record of changes made to this publication. Each set of edits is acknowledged with a 0.01 increase in the version number. The exported files, available on the homepage, reflect the...
View ArticleRecommended Citations
APA (7th) Online: Bovbjerg, M. (2020, October 1). Foundations of Epidemiology. https://open.oregonstate.education/epidemiology/. Print: Bovbjerg, M. (2020). Foundations of Epidemiology. Oregon State...
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About the Author
Marit L. Bovbjerg, PhD, MS is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Oregon State University, and an advocate of Open Access. As an undergraduate, she studied music and chemistry at the University...
View ArticleAppendix 2: Glossary
2x2 Table A convenient way for epidemiologists to organize data, from which one calculates either measures of association or test characteristics. Absolute measure of association A measure of...
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