Utilizing Epidemiology for Public Health
Epidemiology is a branch of medicine which studies the occurrence, spreading, determinants of the health status and apparent application of this study to control diseases and other health related matters. The study analyses the causes, patterns, and effects of health and disease status of a distinct population (Gordis, 2014). The information gathered through epidemiology is used to organize and evaluate strategic ways of preventing diseases and as director for managing patients who have already contracted the diseases.
The types of data include the sources of the routine data, which refers to the data collected regularly on a regional or national basis such as births, deaths, health statistics, fertility, and disease notifications. The data may be collected from a sample of the population or the whole population (Rothman, 2012). Demographic data is obtained mainly from the national census. The data concerns the age and sex of individuals. The information about education and employment is also collected. Mortality data is derived from the registration of deaths certified by a medical practitioner. The death certificates contain information on the causes of death, age, sex, address, and occupation.
The data collected can perform well if well analyzed since it is readily available and is useful in establishing the standard characteristics. Variations in data are caused by poor presentation and analysis of the data, possible bias or lack of completeness. Non-uniformity of the data collection across the whole population may also lead to variations (Szklo, & Nieto, 2014). The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides information to guide the policies in improving the health. The NCHS works in collaboration with other bodies in each jurisdiction in order to offer critical information regarding the provision of health facilities.
References
Gordis, L. (2014). Epidemiology. Press.
Rothman, K. J. (2012). Epidemiology: An introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Szklo, M., & Nieto, F. J. (2014). Epidemiology: Beyond the basics. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Press.