Gordis Chapter 1

Study of how disease is distributed in populations and the factors that influence or determine this distribution Natural history and prognosis of disease Foundation for development of public policy

Action taken to prevent the development of a disease in a person who does not have it yet

Early detection of existing disease to reduce severity and complications

Preventing complications in those who have developed symptoms of illness and have been diagnosed

Preventative measure applied to entire population

Preventative measures/screening restricted to high-risk individuals

Determine if association exists between exposure to a factor or a characteristic of a person and the development of the disease in question Derive appropriate inferences about possible causal relationship from the patterns of the associations found

Correlated child-bed fever with doctors doing autopsies before delivering babies

Cowpox

Cholera