Epidemiology and Biostatistics Secrets

Book Preface

What is epidemiology?   

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinates of disease in the human population. It is the basic science and fundamental practice of public health.

Where does the word epidemiology come from?

The word epidemiology comes from epidemic, which, translated from Greek, means “upon the people.”

What do epidemiologists do?

Epidemiologists study disease frequencies in populations to identify risk factors for disease (and health) to ultimately improve the health of the population.

What is biostatistics?

Biostatistics provides a framework for the analysis of data. Through the application of statistic principles to the biologic sciences, biostatisticians (and others familiar with the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data) are able to methodically distinguish between true differences among observations and random variations caused by chance alone.

How is biostatistics useful?

From an application standpoint, knowledge of biostatistics and epidemiology permits one to make valid conclusions from data sets. Associations between risk factors and disease are determined with this information and, ultimately, are used to reduce illness and injury. Through the use of these methods, scientists and biostatisticians were able to demonstrate associations between benzene exposure and an increased risk of leukemia, and also between asbestos exposure and an increased risk of mesothelioma.