Abstract
Epidemiology may be defined as the study of the distribution of health and disease in groups of people and the study of the factors that influence this distribution. Modern epidemiology also encompasses the evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and the delivery of health care services. There is a progression in the scientific process (along the dimension of increasing. credibility of evidence), from casual observation, to hypothesis formation, to controlled observation, to experimental studies. Figure 4.1 is a schematic representation of the uses of epidemiology. The tools used in this endeavor are in the province of epidemiology and biostatistics. The techniques used in these disciplines enable “medical detectives” both to uncover a medical problem, to evaluate the evidence about its causality or etiology, and to evaluate therapeutic interventions to combat the problem.
Keywords
- Cervical Cancer
- Diastolic Blood Pressure
- High Blood Pressure
- Positive Test
- Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
“Medicine to produce health has to examine disease; and music to create harmony, must investigate discord”
Plutarch
A.D. 46–120
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© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Wassertheil-Smoller, S. (1990). Mostly about Epidemiology. In: Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3887-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3887-2_4
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-97312-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3887-2
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