Class 505 Unit 5 Overview and Outcomes
Clinical Application of Epidemiology
After completing this unit, you should be able to:
· Discuss the key epidemiological terms related to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
· Explain examples of how epidemiological studies impacted knowledge of diagnosis, prognosis or clinical treatment.
· Identify the use epidemiology in of outbreak investigations.
Course Outcome(s) practiced in this unit:
MN505-3: Assess health promotion and illness prevention risk factors in a multicultural context.
This unit you will learn how epidemiology impacts diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Without intervention, conditions and diseases have a natural history or natural course of evolution. Through analysis of clinical intervention standards, developed via epidemiological studies, the most effective probable positive outcome of a specific treatment can be chosen. Estimation of survival time and clinical prediction can be made based on historical probabilities or rules, tied to studies. Likelihood and probabilities are not used alone in determining treatment course. The patient specific characteristics, personal condition variability factors, risks and preferences are also to be considered when looking at desired outcomes.
Evaluation of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCCT) are considered the “Gold” standard in epidemiological studies for the evaluation of treatment options. Due consideration is also given to observational type study outcomes and expert authority opinion as well, though the RCCT’s carry the strongest weight of support. Guidelines, protocols and meta-analysis are developed from epidemiological studies for use in determining, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Additionally in this unit you will explore concepts such as chain of infection and outbreak solution processes, which are also developed from the use of epidemiological tools.
