NATIONAL
CHIAO TUNG UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE
OF STATISTICS
INTRODUCTION
TO EPIDEMIOLOGY
FALL
2003
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Instructor: |
Guan-Hua
Huang, Ph.D. |
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Office:
423 Assembly Building 1 |
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Phone:
03-513-1334 |
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Email:
ghuang@stat.nctu.edu.tw |
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Class
meetings: |
Wednesday
1:30-4:30 pm at 427 Assembly Building 1 |
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Office
hours: |
Wednesday
10:00am-12:00pm at 423 Assembly Building 1 |
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Class
website: |
http://www.stat.nctu.edu.tw/faculty/ghuang/course/introepif03/ |
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Credit: |
Three
(3) credits |
COURSE
SUMMARY
The main
purpose of this course is to expose students to a variety of key epidemiologic
concepts and ways to approach these concepts when carrying out epidemiologic
studies.
At the
conclusion of this course, you should
- Have a
basic understanding of epidemiologic methods and study design
- Be able
to critically review published epidemiologic papers and assess the validity of
their design and their inferences
- Be able
to investigate the natural history of disease
- Understand
how epidemiology is used for identifying the causes of disease and identifying
populations at high risk for particular diseases
- Realize
the relevance of epidemiological principles to your own fields of study
- Be an
informed consumer of epidemiological sources of information (journals, Web
Sites, government agencies)
HANDOUTS
AND TEXTBOOKS
Handouts
corresponding to each lecture will be available on the class website before each
class. The required textbook for this course is
Leon
Gordis (2000), Epidemiology,
2nd edition, W. B. Saunders Co.
Reading
assignments will be made primary in this book. In addition, one book is
suggested for recommend reading
David E.
Lilienfeld
and Paul D.
Stolley (1994), Foundations
of Epidemiology, 3rd edition, Oxford
University Press.
Students
are also encouraged to get an English-Chinese medical dictionary to facilitate
the course.
INTENDED
AUDIENCE
The
course will be of interest to students who want to learn about the foundation
science for epidemiology. There are no prerequisites for this
course.
METHOD
OF STUDENT EVALUATION
The
course grade will be based on three homework assignments (30%), one midterm exam
(30%), and one final exam (40%).
COURSE
OUTLINE
Readings
refer to Gordis (2000), Epidemiology, 2nd edition, W. B. Saunders Co. (Gordis),
and Lilienfeld
and Stolley
(1994), Foundations of Epidemiology, 3rd edition, Oxford
University Press (Lilienfeld
and Stolley).
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Sep
10 |
Lecture |
Orientation:
format, grading, readings Epidemiologic
approach to health and disease | ||||||
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Reading |
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Sep
17 |
Lecture |
Epidemiologic concepts:
transmission of disease and investigation of an epidemic | ||||||
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Reading |
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Sep
24 |
Lecture |
Measuring the occurrence of
disease: morbidity and mortality | ||||||
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Reading |
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Oct
1 |
Lecture |
Assessing diagnostic and
screening tests: validity and reliability | ||||||
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Reading |
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Oct
8 |
Lecture |
The
natural history of disease: ways to express prognosis | ||||||
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Reading |
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Oct
15 |
Lecture |
Study
design I: clinical trials | ||||||
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Reading |
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Assignment |
Homework
1 due | ||||||
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Oct
22 |
Lecture |
Study
design II: cohort studies | ||||||
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Reading |
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Oct
29 |
Lecture |
Study
design III: case-control and cross-sectional studies | ||||||
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Reading |
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Nov
5 |
Lecture |
Midterm
examination | ||||||
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Nov
12 |
Lecture |
Measuring the risk of disease:
association | ||||||
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Reading |
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Nov
19 |
Lecture |
Deriving inferences from
epidemiologic studies: association versus causation | ||||||
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Reading |
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Assignment |
Homework
2 due | ||||||
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Nov
26 |
Lecture |
Interpretation of
epidemiologic data: bias, confounding and interaction | ||||||
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Reading |
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Dec
3 |
Lecture |
University athletic activity:
no class | ||||||
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Dec
10 |
Lecture |
Genetic epidemiology
Dr. Yen-Feng Chiu, Division of
Biostatistics and Bioinforrmatics, National Health Research
Institutes | ||||||
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Reading |
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Dec
17 |
Lecture |
Psychiatry
epidemiology Dr. Angela P. Fan,
Department
of Psychiatry, National Yang-Ming
University | ||||||
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Assignment |
Homework
3 due | ||||||
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Dec
24 |
Lecture |
Infectious disease
epidemiology Dr. Yu-Hsiang
Hsieh,
Department
of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University | ||||||
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Dec
31 |
Lecture |
Legal, ethical and policy
aspects of epidemiologic investigations | ||||||
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Reading |
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Jan
7 |
Lecture |
Final
examination | ||||||
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