IDE7103 Epidemiology

The first week of this course will cover the fundamentals of epidemiology as a recap and foundation for advanced epidemiology that follows for the rest of the course. The first part of the course will therefore introduce the basic concepts of epidemiology and biostatistics as applied to public health problems. Emphasis will be placed on the principles and methods of epidemiology, appropriate summaries and displays of data, and the use of classical statistical approaches to describe the health of populations. In week 2-5 the topics to be covered include the dynamic behaviour of disease; usage of rates, ratios and proportions; methods of direct and indirect adjustment, and clinical life table which measures and describes the extent of disease problems. Various epidemiological study designs for investigating associations between risk factors and disease outcomes are also introduced, culminating with criteria for causal inferences. The application of these disciplines in the areas of health services, screening, genetics, and environment policy are presented. The influence of epidemiology and biostatistics on legal and ethical issues are also discussed.  
 
 
Aim  
To equip the students with knowledge, skills and competences to apply principles of epidemiology and biostatistics to the description of disease characteristics, disease prevention and the improvement of health. 
  
Course objectives  
By the end of this course, the students will be able to: 

• Demonstrate the role of epidemiology in the field of public health.  
• Calculate epidemiological measures used to define and quantify infectious disease outbreaks.  
• Design epidemiological study designs used to examine the health status of a population and be able to evaluate the strengths and limitations of each.  
• Identify and describe the impact of bias and confounding in epidemiological studies.  
• Critically analyse and evaluate epidemiological studies in medical or public health studies.  

 
Expected course outcome 
Application of epidemiology in: 

• Describe population patterns of health-related risk factors and health-related outcomes in terms of host, agent, environmental, spatial, and temporal factors 
• Skill to assess and compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of common epidemiological study designs (e.g., cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, experimental studies) 
• Ability to interpret the impact of bias, confounding, and effect modification on causal inference in epidemiological research. 
• Ability to critically evaluate epidemiological findings from published research studie