MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 1 Discussion
Measures of Effect
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO1: Develop correct use of advanced biostatistical methods and discipline specific epidemiological terminology as related to public health programs.
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO6: Evaluate how ethics, economics, and science impact epidemiology’s role in public health policy development.
CO7: Assess factors associated with environmental, biological, social, and behavioral aspects of infectious and chronic diseases in relation to health outcomes.
Effect measures are used in epidemiological studies to assess the strength of an association between a risk factor or exposure and a disease outcome. It requires the incidence of disease in a community and the amount of exposure. This relationship may be described as association or causality. There are several different ways to express measures of effect and one thing to consider is that exposures do not always carry the same risk to the individual and the community.
For the discussion this week, pick a topic of interest containing an exposure or risk factor and a disease outcome. Find reports of the measures of effect associated with it both for the community and the individual, explaining any differences. Also, tell if the relationship is an association or causal, providing information about any model of causality that you might find in your research.
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 2 Discussion
Impacts of Data Interpretation Issues
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO1: Develop correct use of advanced biostatistical methods and discipline specific epidemiological terminology as related to public health programs.
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO6: Evaluate how ethics, economics, and science impact epidemiology’s role in public health policy development.
CO7: Assess factors associated with environmental, biological, social, and behavioral aspects of infectious and chronic diseases in relation to health outcomes.
Data interpretation and results are vital to progress in public health and epidemiology. Poor interpretation or inaccurate reporting can cause drastic problems for public health and impact millions. One of the best examples of this are the studies of the MMR vaccine being associated with increased risk of Autism. Review the following resources and discuss the concerns about
data interpretation
reporting of results
validity and reliability
bias and confounding
Finally, explain the short term and long-term effects of the issues concerning data related to the study.
Resources
Do Vaccines Cause Autism? (Links to an external site.)
Mercury, Vaccines, and Autism: One Controversy, Three Histories (Links to an external site.)
Thimerosal and Vaccines (Links to an external site.)
The MMR Vaccination and Autism Controversy in United Kingdom 1998-2005 (Links to an external site.)
Retracted: Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 3 Discussion
Screening for Disease
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO2: Apply advanced quantitative biostatistical procedures and qualitative biostatistical procedures to relevant public health data sets to identify associations between causative factors and outcomes.
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO4: Analyze the results from statistical computing packages reporting results accurately and within context to the given public health data sets.
CO5: Analyze epidemiological methods and the use of qualitative and quantitative statistical methods in relation to current public health trends.
Health screenings are a way for us to prevent disease from occurring in a population. This week we learn about screening for diseases and how they should be reliable, valid, sensitive, and specific.
For this discussion, select a health screening that is used for secondary prevention and then share details about it with the class. In addition to the prevalence and incidence of the disease tested for, the details should include:
A brief description of the screening
Recommendations for testing based on the USPSTF
The population of interest
What type of screening
Validity and reliability reports
Specificity
Sensitivity
Estimates in lives and dollars saved
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 4 Discussion
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO2: Apply advanced quantitative biostatistical procedures and qualitative biostatistical procedures to relevant public health data sets to identify associations between causative factors and outcomes.
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO4: Analyze the results from statistical computing packages reporting results accurately and within context to the given public health data sets.
CO9: Develop an epidemiological study using the correct qualitative or quantitative study design as well as corresponding statistical analysis.
Infectious disease epidemiology is one of the most well-known applications of public health. This branch of epidemiology involves disease reporting, disease investigation, and disease prevention.
This week you will follow the course of an infectious disease in a community. Pick an infectious disease that impacts your community. Provide a summary of the organism that causes the disease and the way that it is transmitted. Indicate prevalence and incidence of the disease in your community or the United States. Indicate how it might get reported to the health department and how it should be investigated. Finally, provide education that might be provided to the cases to prevent further transmission of the disease.
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 5 Discussion
Environmental and Occupational Applications of Epidemiology
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO2: Apply advanced quantitative biostatistical procedures and qualitative biostatistical procedures to relevant public health data sets to identify associations between causative factors and outcomes.
CO4: Analyze the results from statistical computing packages reporting results accurately and within context to the given public health data sets.
CO7: Assess factors associated with environmental, biological, social, and behavioral aspects of infectious and chronic diseases in relation to health outcomes.
CO8: Critique and analyze data sets to ensure that they are free from bias in developing studies to improve public health outcomes by identifying potential associations or possible outcomes.
This week we learn the importance of epidemiology in preventing disease as it applies to environmental hazards and occupational hazards and accidents. Your assignment for this discussion is to apply this to your own occupational environment, or if you can’t study something that impacts your community. Determine an occupational or community hazard that you meet every day. This could be a chemical, a disease, air pollution, water issues, etc. Just make sure it is an environmental or occupational hazard that impacts you or your community. Find a study about this and critique it. What type of study was completed? What did they find? What preventions or recommendations did this study have? How does this impact you?
If you are unable to determine a hazard for you or your occupation, consider Chernobyl, oil spills, hurricanes, wildfires, lead exposure in children, or the great fog in London. What major impacts occured as a result of these due to health and then policy changes?
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 6 Discussion
Molecular and Genetic Applications in Epidemiology
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO6: Evaluate how ethics, economics, and science impact epidemiology’s role in public health policy development.
Molecular science and genetics play a role in epidemiology. It can help us find disease earlier, identify infectious agents, learn more about environmental exposures, and plays a role in the prevalence of inherited disorders and diseases.
This week you will explore this work to learn more about the role that molecular science and genetic play in epidemiology and public health. You will do this by completing the list below:
Complete a literature search for a recent article about genetic or molecular epidemiology as it relates to a disease of your choice.
Summarize the article and the findings.
Report what type of study design was used.
Describe if segregation or linkage analysis was used.
Report information about genetic markers if applicable.
What was the frequency of the genetic marker if there was one?
What impact does this have on the prevalence of the disease.
Does the marker vary by race, ethnicity and if so, were the study groups comparable?
Report any other remarkable findings.
Report any limitations of the study.
Tell us how this could impact future studies or policies.
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 7 Discussion
Understanding Social and Behavioral Associations in Epidemiology
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO1: Develop correct use of advanced biostatistical methods and discipline specific epidemiological terminology as related to public health programs.
CO2: Apply advanced quantitative biostatistical procedures and qualitative biostatistical procedures to relevant public health data sets to identify associations between causative factors and outcomes.
CO4: Analyze the results from statistical computing packages reporting results accurately and within context to the given public health data sets.
CO5: Analyze epidemiological methods and the use of qualitative and quantitative statistical methods in relation to current public health trends.
CO9: Develop an epidemiological study using the correct qualitative or quantitative study design as well as corresponding statistical analysis.
Social and behavioral epidemiology can show associations that are far reaching, indeed many of these can be upstream determinates to several poor health outcomes.
For this discussion, you need to pick one of the following prompts and complete your own research through the literature. Make sure that you find support for your theories and that your purpose is backed by credible sources. When you respond to others, respond to someone that selected a different prompt than you did.
Select one of the following prompts for your discussion:
Describe how the diet–heart hypothesis represents a multifactorial model for the etiology of coronary heart disease. In what way is the diet–heart hypothesis inconsistent with the epidemiologic triangle?
Discuss how social environment contributes to the worldwide DALYs for childhood malnutrition and poor water quality.
What are some of the possible associations that have been identified between personality and smoking? Using your own ideas, describe and compare study designs that might be used to investigate these hypothesized associations.
MPH516 Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Application 2
Module 8 Discussion
Epidemiology and Health Policy
Purpose
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In the discussions, students should
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts for the module;
integrate professional resources;
engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with classmates; and
express thoughts clearly and logically.
Course Outcomes
This discussion provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:
CO3: Explain the impact of proposed, ongoing and/or completed epidemiological studies on current public health programs and initiatives.
CO5: Assess factors associated with environmental, biological, social, and behavioral aspects of infectious and chronic diseases in relation to health outcomes.
CO6: Evaluate how ethics, economics, and science impact epidemiology’s role in public health policy development.
CO9: Develop an epidemiological study using the correct qualitative or quantitative study design as well as corresponding statistical analysis.
This week we learned how epidemiology can contribute to changing health policy. You are going to explore how health policies came into existence. Consider your research proposal. What polices are associated with this? With your research proposals in mind, select a health policy that now exists. Answer the following:
Briefly describe the health policy
What studies provided support for the study
What barriers did the policy have in terms of implementation and data
Describe the steps of the policy cycle in regard to the policy that you selected
Identify one thing that you could do to ensure that the policy is successful
