NATIONAL CHIAO TUNG UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS
INTRODUCTION TO EPIDEMIOLOGY
FALL 2007
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Instructor: |
Guan-Hua Huang, Ph.D. |
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Office: 423 Joint Education Hall |
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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 9:00
am-12:00 pm at 427 Joint
Education Hall |
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Office hours: |
By appointment |
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Class website: |
http://www.stat.nctu.edu.tw/subhtml/source/teachers/ghuang/course/introepif07/ |
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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%). The midterm exam will be
held on November 14 (9:00
am-12:00 pm) (Notice: this is not in the “regular” midterm week; it’s one week
later), and
the final exam will on January 9 (9:00 am-12:00 pm).
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 12 |
Lecture |
Orientation: format, grading, readings Epidemiologic approach to health and disease |
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Reading |
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Sep 19 |
Lecture |
Epidemiologic
concepts: transmission of disease and investigation of an epidemic |
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Reading |
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Sep 26 |
Lecture |
Measuring
the occurrence of disease: morbidity and mortality |
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Reading |
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Oct 3 |
Lecture |
Assessing
diagnostic and screening tests: validity and reliability |
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Reading |
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Oct 10 |
Lecture |
National holiday: no
class |
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Oct 17 |
Lecture |
The
natural history of disease: ways to express prognosis |
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Reading |
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Oct 24 |
Lecture |
Study
design I: clinical trials |
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Reading |
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Oct 31 |
Lecture |
Study
design II: cohort studies |
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Reading |
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Assignment |
Homework 1 due |
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Nov 7 |
Lecture |
Study
design III: case-control and cross-sectional studies |
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Reading |
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Nov 14 |
Lecture |
Midterm examination |
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Nov 21 |
Lecture |
Measuring
the risk of disease: association |
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Reading |
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Nov 28 |
Lecture |
Deriving
inferences from epidemiologic studies: association versus causation |
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Reading |
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Dec 5 |
Lecture |
Interpretation
of epidemiologic data: bias, confounding and interaction |
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Reading |
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Assignment |
Homework 2 due |
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Dec 12 |
Lecture |
Guest lecture: Genetic epidemiology |
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Reading |
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Dec 19 |
Lecture |
Guest lecture: Psychiatry epidemiology |
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Dec 26 |
Lecture |
Guest lecture: Infectious disease epidemiology |
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Jan 2 |
Lecture |
Legal,
ethical and policy aspects of epidemiologic investigations |
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Reading |
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Assignment |
Homework 3 due |
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Jan 9 |
Lecture |
Final
examination |
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