Christine L. Case, Ed.D.
Biology Professor
Skyline College

 

Glossary of Epidemiology Terms

A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T U V Y Z

A

ACQUIRED IMMUNITY. Specific antibodies obtained during the life of an individual.

ACTIVE IMMUNITY. The ability, obtained during the life of an individual, to produce specific antibodies or T cells.

ACUTE DISEASE. A disease in which symptoms develop rapidly but last for only a short time.

AGE-ADJUSTED MORTALITY RATE. A mortality rate statistically modified to eliminate the effect of different age distributions in the different populations.

AGENT. A factor, such as a microorganism, chemical substance, or form of radiation, whose presence, excessive presence, or (in deficiency diseases) relative absence is essential for the occurrence of a disease.

AGE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY RATE. A mortality rate limited to a particular age group. The numerator is the number of deaths in that age group; the denominator is the number of persons in that age group in the population.

ANALYTIC EPIDEMIOLOGY. The aspect of epidemiology concerned with the search for health-related causes and effects. Uses comparison groups, which provide baseline data, to quantify the association between exposures and outcomes, and test hypotheses about causal relationships.

ANALYTIC STUDY. A comparative study intended to identify and quantify associations, test hypotheses, and identify causes. Two common types are cohort study and case-control study.

APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGY. The application or practice of epidemiology to address public health issues.

ASSOCIATION. Statistical relationship between two or more events, characteristics, or other variables.

ATTACK RATE. A variant of an incident rate, applied to a narrowly defined population observed for a limited period of time, such as during an epidemic.

ATTENUTATED. Weakened, avirulent microorganisms.

ANTIBODY. A protein produced by the body in response to an antigen, and capable of combining specifically with that antigen.

ANTIGEN. Any substance that causes antibody formation.

ARTIFICIALLY ACQUIRED ACTIVE IMMUNITY. Active immunity resulting from vaccination.

ARTIFICIALLY ACQUIRED PASSIVE IMMUNITY. Active immunity resulting from infection of antibodies.

ATTRIBUTABLE PROPORTION. A measure of the public health impact of a causative factor; proportion of a disease in a group that is exposed to a particular factor which can be attributed to their exposure to that factor.

B

BAR CHART. A visual display of the size of the different categories of a variable. Each category or value of the variable is represented by a bar.

BIAS. Deviation of results or inferences from the truth, or processes leading to such systematic deviation. Any trend in the collection, analysis, interpretation, publication, or review of data that can lead to conclusions that are systematically different from the truth.

BIOLOGIC TRANSMISSION. The indirect vector-borne transmission of an infectious agent in which the agent undergoes biologic changes within the vector before being transmitted to a new host.

BOX PLOT. A visual display that summarizes data using a ``box and whiskers'' format to show the minimum and maximum values (ends of the whiskers), interquartile range (length of the box), and median (line through the box).

C

CARRIER. A person or animal without apparent disease who harbors a specific infectious agent and is capable of transmitting the agent to others. The carrier state may occur in an individual with an infection that is inapparent throughout its course (known as asymptomatic carrier), or during the incubation period, convalescence, and postconvalescence of an individual with a clinically recognizable disease. The carrier state may be of short or long duration (transient carrier or chronic carrier).

CASE. In epidemiology, a countable instance in the population or study group of a particular disease, health disorder, or condition under investigation. Sometimes, an individual with the particular disease.

CASE-CONTROL STUDY. A type of observational analytic study. Enrollment into the study is based on presence (``case'') or absence (``control'') of disease. Characteristics such as previous exposure are then compared between cases and controls.

CASE DEFINITION. A set of standard criteria for deciding whether a person has a particular disease or health-related condition, by specifying clinical criteria and limitations on time, place, and person.

CASE-FATALITY RATE. The proportion of persons with a particular condition (cases) who die from that condition. The denominator is the number of incident cases; the numerator is the number of cause-specific deaths among those cases.

CAUSE OF DISEASE. A factor (characteristic, behavior, event, etc.) that directly influences the occurrence of disease. A reduction of the factor in the population should lead to a reduction in the occurrence of disease.

CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY RATE. The mortality rate from a specified cause for a population. The numerator is the number of deaths attributed to a specific cause during a specified time interval; the denominator is the size of the population at the midpoint of the time interval.

CENSUS. The enumeration of an entire population, usually with details being recorded on residence, age, sex, occupation, ethnic group, marital status, birth history, and relationship to head of household.

CHAIN OF INFECTION. A process that begins when an agent leaves its reservoir or host through a portal of exit, and is conveyed by some mode of transmission, then enters through an appropriate portal of entry to infect a susceptible host.

CHRONIC DISEASE. An illness that develops slowly and is likely to continue or recur for long periods.

CLASS INTERVAL. A span of values of a continuous variable which are grouped into a single category for a frequency distribution of that variable.

CLUSTER. An aggregation of cases of a disease or other health-related condition, particularly cancer and birth defects, which are closely grouped in time and place. The number of cases may or may not exceed the expected number; frequently the expected number is not known.

COHORT. A well-defined group of people who have had a common experience or exposure, who are then followed up for the incidence of new diseases or events, as in a cohort or prospective study. A group of people born during a particular period or year is called a birth cohort.

COHORT STUDY. A type of observational analytic study. Enrollment into the study is based on exposure characteristics or membership in a group. Disease, death, or other health-related outcomes are then ascertained and compared.

COMMON SOURCE OUTBREAK. An outbreak that results from a group of persons being exposed to a common noxious influence, such as an infectious agent or toxin. If the group is exposed over a relatively brief period of time, so that all cases occur within one incubation period, then the common source outbreak is further classified as a point source outbreak. In some common source outbreaks, persons may be exposed over a period of days, weeks, or longer, with the exposure being either intermittent or continuous.

COMMON VEHICLE. An inanimate intermediary in the indirect transmission of an agent that carries the agent from a reservoir to a susceptible host.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE . Any disease that can be spread from one host to another.

CONFIDENCE INTERVAL. A range of values for a variable of interest, e.g., a rate, constructed so that this range has a specified probability of including the true value of the variable. The specified probability is called the confidence level, and the end points of the confidence interval are called the confidence limits.

CONFIDENCE LIMIT. The minimum or maximum value of a confidence interval.

CONGENITAL. A condition existing at birth; may be inherited or acquired in utero.

CONTACT. Exposure to a source of an infection, or a person so exposed.

CONTAGIOUS. A disease that is easily spread from one person to another by close proximity.

CONTINGENCY TABLE. A two-variable table with cross-tabulated data.

CONTROL. In a case-control study, comparison group of persons without disease.

CRISIS. Abrupt period of decline of disease symptoms.

CRUDE MORTALITY RATE. The mortality rate from all causes of death for a population.

CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY. In a frequency distribution, the number or proportion of cases or events with a particular value or in a particular class interval, plus the total number or proportion of cases or events with smaller values of the variable.

CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY CURVE. A plot of the cumulative frequency rather than the actual frequency for each class interval of a variable. This type of graph is useful for identifying medians, quartiles, and other percentiles.

D

DEATH-TO-CASE RATIO. The number of deaths attributed to a particular disease during a specified time period divided by the number of new cases of that disease identified during the same time period.

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION. The ``person'' characteristics--age, sex, race, and occupation--of descriptive epidemiology used to characterize the populations at risk.

DENOMINATOR. The lower portion of a fraction used to calculate a rate or ratio. In a rate, the denominator is usually the population (or population experience, as in person-years, etc.) at risk.

DEPENDENT VARIABLE. In a statistical analysis, the outcome variable(s) or the variable(s) whose values are a function of other variable(s) (called independent variable(s) in the relationship under study).

DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY. The aspect of epidemiology concerned with organizing and summarizing health-related data according to time, place, and person.

DETERMINANT. Any factor, whether event, characteristic, or other definable entity, that brings about change in a health condition, or in other defined characteristics.

DIRECT TRANSMISSION. The immediate transfer of an agent from a reservoir to a susceptible host by direct contact or droplet spread.

DISTRIBUTION. In epidemiology, the frequency and pattern of health-related characteristics and events in a population. In statistics, the observed or theoretical frequency of values of a variable.

DOT PLOT. A visual display of the actual data points of a noncontinuous variable.

DROPLET NUCLEI. The residue of dried droplets that may remain suspended in the air for long periods, may be blown over great distances, and are easily inhaled into the lungs and exhaled.

DROPLET SPREAD. The direct transmission of an infectious agent from a reservoir to a susceptible host by spray with relatively large, short-ranged aerosols produced by sneezing, coughing, or talking.

E

ENDEMIC DISEASE. The constant presence of a disease or infectious agent within a given geographic area or population group; may also refer to the usual prevalence of a given disease within such area or group.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR. An extrinsic factor (geology, climate, insects, sanitation, health services, etc.) which affects the agent and the opportunity for exposure.

EPIDEMIC. The occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time.

EPIDEMIC CURVE. A histogram that shows the course of a disease outbreak or epidemic by plotting the number of cases by time of onset.

EPIDEMIC PERIOD. A time period when the number of cases of disease reported is greater than expected.

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRIAD. The traditional model of infectious disease causation. Includes three components: an external agent, a susceptible host, and an environment that brings the host and agent together, so that disease occurs.

EPIDEMIOLOGY. The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems.

EVALUATION. A process that attempts to determine as systematically and objectively as possible the relevance, effectiveness, and impact of activities in the light of their objectives.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY. A study in which the investigator specifies the exposure category for each individual (clinical trial) or community (community trial), then follows the individuals or community to detect the effects of the exposure.

EXPOSED (GROUP). A group whose members have been exposed to a supposed cause of disease or health state of interest, or possess a characteristic that is a determinant of the health outcome of interest.

F

FOMITE. A nonliving object that can spread infection.

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION. A complete summary of the frequencies of the values or categories of a variable; often displayed in a two column table: the left column lists the individual values or categories, the right column indicates the number of observations in each category.

FREQUENCY POLYGON. A graph of a frequency distribution with values of the variable on the x-axis and the number of observations on the y-axis; data points are plotted at the midpoints of the intervals and are connected with a straight line.

G

GERM. A rapidly growing cell.

GRAPH. A way to show quantitative data visually, using a system of coordinates.

H

HEALTH. A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

HEALTH INDICATOR. A measure that reflects, or indicates, the state of health of persons in a defined population, e.g., the infant mortality rate.

HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM. A combination of health statistics from various sources, used to derive information about health status, health care, provision and use of services, and impact on health.

HERD IMMUNITY. The resistance of a group to invasion and spread of an infectious agent, based on the resistance to infection of a high proportion of individual members of the group. The resistance is a product of the number susceptible and the probability that those who are susceptible will come into contact with an infected person.

HIGH-RISK GROUP. A group in the community with an elevated risk of disease.

HISTOGRAM. A graphic representation of the frequency distribution of a continuous variable. Rectangles are drawn in such a way that their bases lie on a linear scale representing different intervals, and their heights are proportional to the frequencies of the values within each of the intervals.

HOST. A person or other living organism that can be infected by an infectious agent under natural conditions.

HOST FACTOR. An intrinsic factor (age, race, sex, behaviors, etc.) which influences an individual's exposure, susceptibility, or response to a causative agent.

HYPERENDEMIC DISEASE. A disease that is constantly present at a high incidence and/or prevalence rate.

HYPOTHESIS. A supposition, arrived at from observation or reflection, that leads to refutable predictions. Any conjecture cast in a form that will allow it to be tested and refuted.

HYPOTHESIS, NULL. The first step in testing for statistical significance in which it is assumed that the exposure is not related to disease.

HYPOTHESIS, ALTERNATIVE. The hypothesis, to be adopted if the null hypothesis proves implausible, in which exposure is associated with disease.

I

IATROGENIC. Resulting from an action of a physician.

IMMUNITY. The body's defense against specific pathogenic microorganisms.

INCIDENCE RATE. A measure of the frequency with which an event, such as a new case of illness, occurs in a population over a period of time. The denominator is the population at risk; the numerator is the number of new cases occurring during a given time period.

INCUBATION PERIOD. A period of subclinical or inapparent pathologic changes following exposure, ending with the onset of symptoms of infectious disease.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. An exposure, risk factor, or other characteristic being observed or measured that is hypothesized to influence an event or manifestation (the dependent variable).

INDEX CASE. The first case of a disease.

INDIRECT TRANSMISSION. The transmission of an agent carried from a reservoir to a susceptible host by suspended air particles or by animate (vector) or inanimate (vehicle) intermediaries.

INDIVIDUAL DATA. Data that have not been put into a frequency distribution or rank ordered.

INFECTION. The invasion or growth of microorganisms in the body.

INFECTIVITY. The proportion of persons exposed to a causative agent who become infected by an infectious disease.

INFERENCE, STATISTICAL. In statistics, the development of generalizations from sample data, usually with calculated degrees of uncertainty.

INTERQUARTILE RANGE. The central portion of a distribution, calculated as the difference between the third quartile and the first quartile; this range includes about one-half of the observations in the set, leaving one-quarter of the observations on each side.

ISOLATION. Separating patients with a communicable disease from susceptible people.

L

LATENCY PERIOD. A period of subclinical or inapparent pathologic changes following exposure, ending with the onset of symptoms of chronic disease.

LATENT DISEASE. A disease characterized by a period of no symptoms when the pathogen is inactive.