The concept of health: blind-spot for epidemiology?

Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia

Almeida Filho, Naomar de¹ 

[1] Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador

关键词: Health concept;    Epidemiology;    Epidemiological theory;    Health indicators;    DALY;    QALY;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1415-790X2000000100002

学科分类：过敏症与临床免疫学

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

In this paper,the author evaluates the proposition that the concept of Health is a blind-spotfor epidemiologic science, arguing that there is no logical basis for a negativedefinition of Health, neither at the individual level nor at the collectivelevel. He also briefly analyzes the attempts of producing an epidemiology ofhealth symmetric to the epidemiology of risks, as well as the econometric approachesthat reinforce and complement the epidemiologic repertoire for the measurementof health. Due to its growing importance in the definition of budgetary policiesin health, the author focuses in more detail on the DALY approach, consideredas a prototype of the new generation of health indicators. Finally, recognizingthe failure of methodological proposals for a direct evaluation of levels ofcollective health through unified indicators, the author concludes with an evaluationof the current prospects for Epidemiology in order to integrate the complexobject of Health in its theoretical and methodological agenda.

【 授权许可】

CC BY