Posted: September 26th, 2022

Descriptive Epidemiology

Descriptive Epidemiology
Descriptive epidemiology is the field of science that describes the distribution of diseases as well as the determinants. The main goal of any descriptive epidemiological study is to examine and characterize the extent and distribution of a condition within a population. The information gathered is used in the treatment, prevention, and management of diseases with the goal of improving the health and safety of the entire population. Descriptive epidemiology also provides valuable information that sets the stage that enables more focused investigations and research involving observing, monitoring trends, planning for the services, and launching more in-depth studies regarding a health problem.
Analytical epidemiologists will carefully evaluate and record all the circumstances associated with the person affected by the condition of interest. They will use the data gathered to identify any pattern that might suggest the cause of the disease. However, the main focus is the frequency and pattern of occurrence. Frequency helps establish the rate at which the condition occurs while the pattern is used to establish the risk factors. To establish frequency and pattern, descriptive epidemiology examines, organizes, and analyzes the variables of person, place, and time.
Time. The occurrence of an illness is not consistent. Some diseases may occur regularly, while others are unpredictable. For instance, two prevalent diseases that occur during the same period include influenza, which occurs during the winter, and the West Nile Virus infection between August to September each year. On the other hand, diseases like hepatitis B can occur at any given time. With conditions that occur regularly, the government can anticipate and put necessary measures like vaccination to reduce their impact. For those that occur sporadically, research and studies can help establish the causes and modes of spread and take necessary actions to prevent adverse effects.
Place, or where the condition occurred. Describing the occurrence of infection by place helps establish the extent of spread and the geographic variation. In this case, the place refers to the geographic location relevant to the disease, including place of work, birth, diagnosis or report, recent travel destination, or school of attendance.
Person. Refers to the person(s) affected by the health problem. Some conditions may be dominant in certain groups of the population than in others. Descriptive epidemiology uses inherent characteristics of a person such as age, sex, race, education, leisure activities, eating patterns, marital status, socioeconomic status, and use of certain drugs and medication like tobacco and alcohol.
Celius, Elisabeth Gulowsen. “Descriptive epidemiology and related neurobiology.” Oxford Textbook of Neurologic and Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology 2 (2020): 295.
Schmidt, Peggy L., and Helen T. Engelke. “Epidemiology of Infectious Disease.” Clinical Small Animal Internal Medicine (2020): 829-837.
Yadav, Shakti Kumar, Sompal Singh, and Ruchika Gupta. “Epidemiological Studies.” In Biomedical Statistics, pp. 157-164. Springer, Singapore, 2019.

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