2010-2011 academic year
Epidemiology and Health Demography (20554)
Qualifications/course: bachelor's degree in Medicine
Year: third
Term: first
Number of ECTS credits: 4 credits
Students commitment: 100 hours
Teaching language or languages:
Reachin staff: this subject will be coordinated by the lecturers Josep M. Antó and Miquel Porta and taught by the lecturers Josep M. Antó, Jordi Sunyer and Miquel Porta
1. Introduction to the subject
Epidemiology and Health Demography is a core subject taught during the third year of the Medicine degree course. It consists of 4 ECTS credits, equivalent to 100 hours, which are distributed between 44 face-to-face and 56 virtual hours. The 44 face-to-face hours consist of 20 hours of lectures, 20 hours of case studies and 4 hours of epidemiological protocol study.
Epidemiology is defined as the branch of science that studies the frequency and distribution of disease and other states of health, their causes, and the social and healthcare initiatives necessary to maintain or restore health. Unlike other disciplines, epidemiology is focused on human population groups rather than individuals; it is therefore a discipline strongly focused on and public health and clinical practice. Its area of application has gradually expanded in recent decades to the point where it directly covers questions as varied as the assessment of methods for clinical diagnosis (clinical epidemiology), the study of health problems related to environmental pollution (environmental epidemiology), gene-environmental interactions (genetic and molecular epidemiology), prevention and the protection of health, the assessment of medical treatments and the use of healthcare services.
Epidemiological treatment of the questions above is possible by means of the integration of models some theoretical and highly quantitative and statistical methodologies. The theoretical models include those related to the causality of chronic diseases and prevention models. A recent breakthrough is the inclusion of socio-economic determining factors in multi-level causality models. The growth of cellular biology and genomics has also led to a major growth in genetic and molecular epidemiology.
The subject will be coordinated by the lecturers Josep M. Antó and Miquel Porta and taught by the lecturers Josep M. Antó, Jordi Sunyer, Xavier Castells, Montse Ferrer and Miquel Porta.
Do not hesitate to request an appointment with each lecturer to clarify your doubts or ideas. For any enquiry on a specific subject, first consult the lecturer responsible and arrange an appointment by telephone or by e-mail.
Dr. Josep Maria Antó, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (UPF).
Subject coordinator
93 214 73 60 [email protected]
Dr. Miquel Portal, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (UAB).
Subject coordinator
93 316 0700 [email protected]
Dr. Jordi Sunyer, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (UPF).
93 214 73 40 [email protected]
Dr. Montse Ferrer, temporary part-time lecturer (UAB).
93 316 0760 [email protected]
Dr. Xavier Spanish, temporary part-time medical lecturer (UAB).
93 248 3288 [email protected]
2. Competences to be acquired
At the end of the subject, participants should be able to:
1. Analyse health problems as problems for population groups and consider individuals as a part of population groups.
2. Know how genetic and biological factors interact with environmental and social factors, creating conditions that are favourable to health or lead to diseases.
3. Measure the frequency of diseases and their impact on healthcare and society, and the frequency and impact of health problems on our environment.
4. Understand the concepts and main methods and types of study enabling identification of the risk factors and diseases and their possible prevention.
3. Contents
Theory
Introduction to epidemiology (1 h)
Frequency measures (1 h)
Observation and experiment (1 h)
Association and impact measures (1 h)
Confusion: stratification and multivariate analysis (2 h)
Biases: precision and validity (1 h)
Introduction to epidemiological designs (1 h)
Ecological and multi-level studies (1 h)
Case studies and controls (1 h)
Cohort studies (1 h)
Causality (2 h)
Modification of effect and interaction (2 h)
Genetic and molecular epidemiology (2 h)
Diagnostic tests (1 h)
Prevention and screening levels (2 h)
Case studies
1. The future distribution of diseases in the world (4 h; Josep M Antó).
2. Sources of variability in clinical measures (4 h; Xavier Castells).
3. How the first year of life affects health (4 h; Jordi Sunyer).
4. The 2 x 2 table: interpreting measures of relative risk in the context of concepts of causality (4 h; Miquel Porta).
5. Critical reading of scientific articles on diagnostic tests (4 h; Montserrat Ferrer).
Practical work (4 h)
Production of a reduced protocol for an epidemiological study to assess the effects on health of living near an incinerator.
4. Assessment
The assessment will have an individual and a group component. The individual component will be assessed by means of an examination, which may include both multiple choice questions and short questions with a narrative answer. The group assessment is based on participation in case studies and the production of the short study protocol mentioned above.
The weight of the various evaluations on the final accreditative mark is as follows:
MCT: 30%
Short questions: 20%
Case studies and protocol: 50%
Any type of copy in any of the assessment section does not entail passing the subject. Formative evaluation takes place, with no negative impact on the final mark.
5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
Reference books
AHLBOM, A.; NORELL, S. Fundamentos de epidemiología. Madrid: Siglo XXI, 1987.
FLETCHER, R. H.; FLETCHER, S. W.; WAGNER, E. H. Epidemiologia clínica. 2nd edition. Barcelona: Masson, 2007.
Reference books:
GORDIS, L. (ed.). Epidemiología. 3rd edition. Madrid: Elsevier, 2005. [3 copies in the library].
LILIENFELD, A. M.; LILIENFELD, D. E. Fundamentos de epidemiología. Mexico: Fondo Educativo Interamericano Wilmington: Addison-Wesley Iberoamericana, 1987.
MACMAHON, B.; TRICHOUPOULOS, D. Epidemiology. Principles and Methods. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1996.
PORTA, M. (ed.). A dictionary of epidemiology. 5th edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. [2 copies in English in the library].
SACKETT, D. L.; HAYNES, B.; GUYATT, G. H.; TUGWELL, P. Epidemiología clínica, ciencia básica para la medicina clínica. 2nd edition. Buenos Aires: Editorial Médica Panamericana, 1994. [5 copies in the library].
6. Methodology
The course will involve a closely linked combination of theory sessions and practical sessions, which will be based on the case-solving method in group work format. The theory sessions will mainly focus on the structured and systematic presentation of the most complex concepts and the theoretical models. The casework enables the content of the theoretical sessions to be developed and set in a context and this knowledge to be integrated into problem solving. The cases will be based on research articles and work guides produced especially for each case. In order to study the application of the knowledge acquired in depth, the programme includes a practical project consisting of producing a small-scale protocol for an epidemiological study to assess the effects of living close to an incinerator on health.
7. Programme of activities