Ateneo - UPO

Principles of hygiene and public health; epidemiological methods for public health; infectious disease epidemiology; chronic disease epidemiology; proximal and distal determinants of health; effects of lifestyle on health; climate change and health; primary, secondary and tertiary prevention; evaluation of health interventions; the process of drug discovery and development; adverse drug reactions and pharmacovigilance; evidence-based medicine; the organization of health systems.

Barbuti, Fara, Giammanco. Igiene, medicina preventiva, Sanità Pubblica Edises Editore. 2022

Rothman. Epidemiology: An Introduction. Oxford press.
Versione italiana: Rothman. Epidemiologia. Idelson – Gnocchi

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

To know the most important sources of epidemiological data.

To understand the elements in the design and conduct of the most important types of epidemiological studies.

To know the most important sources of bias in epidemiological studies.

to understand the criteria to evaluate causality of an association in Medicine.

to know the key features of a systematic review of the scientific literature.

to know the most important determinants of health in Italy and worldwide

to understand the the relationship between climate change and health.

to know the differences between primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

to know the key features of the process of drug discovery and development.

to understand the key features of Evidence-Based Medicine.

to know the key features of National Health Systems.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

to be able to calculate measures of frequency and association.

to be able to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of a clinical test.

to able to interpret the results of a meta-analysis.

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Interactive Lectures

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Written exam including Single Best Answer, Open ended questions, and numerical exercises. In particular, open ended questions and numerical exercises will evaluate the ability of the student to calculate basic epidemiological measures and the ability of interpreting the results of a meta-analysis.

General principles of Public Health
Definition of Hygiene and Public Health.
The concept of Health and its evolution over time.

Epidemiological methods for Public Health
Introduction to medical statistics (sources of data; fonti; elaboration and presentation of epidemiological data; health indicators: incidence, mortality, prevalence, survival; measures of frequency and association).
Main Epidemiological studies: clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, descriptive studies.
Sources of uncertainty in epidemiology: the role of chance, bias and counfounding. Effect modification.
Causal inference in Epidemiology.
Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, guide-lines.
Infectious disease epidemiology
Non-communicable disease epidemiology
Introduction to pharmacoepidemiology.

Determinants of health
Proximal and distal determinats of health.
Effects of lifestyle on health (smoking, alchol consumption, diet, overweight and obesity, physical activity)

the relationship between climate change and health.

Preventive interventions
Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Preventive strategies towards individuals and populations. Vaccinations. Screening.

Evaluation of the efficacy of health interventions
process of drug discovery and development
Adverse Drug Events and pharmacovigilance
Evidence-based medicine
Disease mongering.

The organization of health systems.
Healthcare organization; the Italian National Health System (NHS); the corporatization of healthcare. Local Health Authorities and Hospital Health Authorities.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
To know the most important sources of epidemiological data. To understand the elements in the design and conduct of the most important types of epidemiological studies. To know the most important sources of bias in epidemiological studies. To know the key features of a systematic review of the scientific literature. To understand the criteria to evaluate causality of an association in Medicine.
To know the most important determinants of health in Italy and worldwide. To understand the relationship between climate change and health. To know the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. To know the key features of the process of drug discovery and development. To understand the key features of Evidence-Based Medicine. To know the key features of National Health Systems.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING to be able to calculate measures of frequency and association to be able to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of a clinical test to able to interpret the results of a meta-analysis.