The science of epidemiology and the methods needed for public health assessments: a review of epidemiology textbooks

BMC Public Health

John W Powles²  Hebe N Gouda¹ 

[1] School of Population Health, Herston Campus, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK

关键词: Population health metrics;    Epidemiological methods;    Public health;   

Others  :  1145378
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-139

 received in 2013-05-30, accepted in 2014-02-05,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Objectives

Epidemiology is often described as ‘the science of public health’. Here we aim to assess the extent that epidemiological methods, as covered in contemporary standard textbooks, provide tools that can assess the relative magnitude of public health problems and can be used to help rank and assess public health priorities.

Study Design

Narrative literature review.

Methods

Thirty textbooks were grouped into three categories; pure, extended or applied epidemiology, were reviewed with attention to the ways the discipline is characterised and the nature of the analytical methods described.

Results

Pure texts tend to present a strict hierarchy of methods with those metrics deemed to best serve aetiological inquiry at the top. Extended and applied texts employ broader definitions of epidemiology but in most cases, the metrics described are also those used in aetiological inquiry and may not be optimal for capturing the consequences and social importance of injuries and disease onsets.

Conclusions

The primary scientific purpose of epidemiology, even amongst ‘applied’ textbooks, is aetiological inquiry. Authors do not readily extend to methods suitable for assessing public health problems and priorities.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Gouda and Powles; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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