Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health

Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health, Fourth Edition combines theory and practice in presenting traditional and new epidemiologic concepts. Broad in scope, the text opens with five chapters covering the basic epidemiologic concepts and data sources. A major emphasis is placed on study design, with separate chapters devoted to each of the three main analytic designs: experimental, cohort, and case-control studies.

Full chapters on bias, confounding, and random error, including the role of statistics in epidemiology, ensure that students are well-equipped with the necessary information to interpret the results of epidemiologic studies. Up-to-date examples from the epidemiologic literature on diseases of public health importance are provided throughout the book.

Key Features:

    New examples and the latest public health statistics throughout
    Coverage of the Ebola outbreak including an in-depth investigation of what happened
    New examples that illustrate epidemiological principles including a greater emphasis on social factors that influence health, such as racism
    Straightforward descriptions of the latest epidemiologic methods including mediation analysis, agent-based modelling, and the use of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to assess confounding.
    An expanded glossary and key terms highlighted throughout the text

    Chapter  1  The Approach and Evolution of Epidemiology
    Chapter  2  Measures of Disease Frequency
    Chapter  3  Comparing Disease Frequencies
    Chapter  4  Sources of Public Health Data
    Chapter  5  Descriptive Epidemiology
    Chapter  6  Overview of Epidemiologic Study Designs
    Chapter  7  Experimental Studies
    Chapter  8  Cohort Studies
    Chapter  9  Case-Control Studies
    Chapter  10  Bias
    Chapter  11  Confounding
    Chapter  12  Random Error
    Chapter  13  Effect Measure Modification
    Chapter  14  Critical Review of Epidemiologic Studies
    Chapter  15  The Epidemiologic Approach to Causation
    Chapter  16  Screening in Public Health Practice
    Chapter  17  Ethics in Research Involving Human Participants
    Chapter  18  Answers to Chapter Questions (Chapters 1-17)

Ann Aschengrau, ScD - Professor, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

George R. Seage, ScD - Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts