This document provides an overview of epidemiology and community medicine. It defines epidemiology as the study of health-related states and events in populations, including their frequency, distribution, and determinants. The goals of epidemiology are to understand the causes and natural history of diseases, assess the health status of populations, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Epidemiology is used in community medicine to improve public health through prevention, early detection, and reducing the impact of diseases in populations.

1. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
Basic Principles of
Community Medicine and
Epidemiology
Third year
Level 6
Lecture 1

2. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
• Define the epidemiology
• Describe the importance of epidemiology
• Discuss the epidemiology and prevention
• Explain the relation between epidemiology and community
medicine

3. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
Epi:- among
Demos:- people
Logos:-science
Epidemiology is derived
from three Greek words

4. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
• The study of frequency, distribution, and determinants of
health related states and events in populations and the
application of this study to control health problems.

5. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
1. Study : includes: surveillance, observation, hypothesis testing,
analytic research and experiments.
2. Distribution: refers to analysis of: times, persons, places and
classes of people affected.
3. Determinants: include factors that influence health: biological,
chemical, physical, social, cultural, economic, genetic and
behavioural.

6. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
4. Health-related states and events: refer to: diseases, causes of
death, behaviours such as use of tobacco , reactions to
preventive regimes and provision and use of health services.
5. Specified populations: include those with identifiable
characteristics, such as occupational groups.
6. Application to prevention and control: the aims of public
health—to promote, protect, and restore health.

7. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
Three Types of Prevention
Type of Prevention Definition Examples
Primary prevention Preventing the initial
development of
a disease
Immunization, reducing
exposure to a risk factor
Secondary prevention Early detection of existing
disease to reduce severity
and complications
Screening for cancer
Tertiary prevention Reducing the impact of the
disease
Rehabilitation for stroke

8. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
• Community medicine, broadly speaking, refers to collective actions
to improve population health.
• Epidemiology, one of the tools for improving public health, is used
in several ways
• Epidemiology were concerned with the causes (etiology) of
communicable diseases, preventive methods and improving the
health of populations

9. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
I- Causation of disease:
• Although some diseases are caused by genetic factors, most result
from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors.
Diabetes, for example, has both genetic and environmental
components.
II- Natural history of disease:
• Epidemiology is also concerned with the course and outcome
(natural history) of diseases in individuals and groups
III- Health status of populations:
• Knowledge of the disease burden in populations is essential for
health for prevention and care. Such as environmental and
occupational epidemiology

10. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
IV- Evaluating interventions
• Epidemiologists evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of
health services
• This means determining things such as the appropriate length of
stay in hospital for specific conditions, the value of treating high
blood pressure, the efficiency of sanitation measures to control
diarrhoeal diseases and the impact of reducing lead additives in
petrol.

11. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
V- Molecular and genetic epidemiology
• Molecular and Genetic epidemiology deal with the
etiology, distribution, and control of disease in groups of
relatives, and with inherited causes of disease in
populations.
• Public health genetics include:
Population screening programs,
Organizing and evaluating services for patients with
genetic disorders,
The impact of genetics on medical practice.

12. EPIDEMIOLOGY & COMMUNITY MEDICINE
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Leon Gordis
fifth edition 2013
by Saunders, an imprint
of Elsevier inc.
ISBN: 978-1-4557-3733
www.elsevier com/permissions.