Ateneo - UPO

Epidemiology: characteristics and aims.
The causality criteria.
Epidemiological study designs and the hierarchy of scientific evidence.
Frequency, association and impact measures.
The epidemiological health profile of population subgroups.

Materiale didattico fornito dal docente (slides e lezioni videoregistrate).
Manuale di epidemiologia per la sanità pubblica, a cura di F. Faggiano; F. Donato; F. Barbone. Centro Scientifico Editore.

The course aims to provide the student the basis to distinguish the epidemiological studies, describing their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, calculating and interpreting epidemiological measures of frequency, association and impact, and to describe the health and disease profile of the population subgroups.

Basic Mathematics

Lectures.
Exercise sessions aimed to read and interpret scientific texts, to calculate and interpret epidemiologic measures.
Recorded lectures.

16 hours of lectures and exercises on epidemiology methods; 9 hours of recorded lectures on specific epidemiologic applied contents.

The exam consists of a written test including open questions, calculation and interpretation of epidemiological measures.

Epidemiology: characteristics and aims.
Epidemiological study designs: observational and experimental, descriptive and analytic, and the hierarchy of scientific evidence.
Frequency measures: incidence and prevalence.
Measures of association: Odds Ratio, Relative Risk.
Measures of impact: Attributable Risk, Number needed to treat.
Observational descriptive studies: health statistics, ecological studies, surveys.
The occurrence relationship: exposures and outcomes. Confounding factors, effect modifiers, mediators.
The Bradford-Hill Causality Criteria.
Observational analytical studies: case-control and cohort studies.
Experimental studies: RCTs.
Literature reviews and meta-analyses; the Cochrane Collaboration and the Cochrane Reviews.
Population screening; characteristics and validity measures of a diagnostic test.
Health inequalities.
The health profile of the migrant population.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know the methods of epidemiological research;
- to know the epidemiological measures of frequency, risk and impact;
- to know the scientific language.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- to perform simple and complex calculations, and represent data from health statistics in graphs and tables;
- to interpret scientific data;
- to recognize and distinguish the various types of epidemiological studies;
- to schematically plan an epidemiological study;
- to plan the descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of an epidemiological study;
- to interpret the results of scientific research and draw consequences for clinical practice;
- to summarize the results of research using scientific language;
- to describe the health and disease profile of population subgroups.

Autonomy of judgment
- to take decisions based on the results of scientific research;
- to assess the reliability of the results of an epidemiological study;
- to assess the causality of an epidemiological relationship;
- to develop interpretations for disease trends in the population subgroups.

Communication skills
- to describe scientific data by interpreting the phenomena in the light of the knowledge acquired;
- to use scientific language;
- to argue the interpretation of a health phenomenon or scientific data;

Learning skills
- to develop independent and peer study skills;
- to develop skills to research and use self-learning opportunities;
- to demonstrate ability and autonomy in seeking the information needed to solve problems or uncertainties.