Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health (Paperback)

by Ann Aschengrau (Author), George R., III Seage (Author) "Most people do not know what epidemiology is or how it contributes to the health of our society..." (more)
Key Phrases: hypothetical data, occupational epidemiology, water supply companies, United States, New York, National Cancer Institute (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This innovative new text provides a current, comprehensive introduction to principles applied in the practice of epidemiology in public health. It incorporates modern ideas in epidemiological thinking that have been largely omitted in other textbooks, providing an overview that is up-to-date and thorough. Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health will familiarize readers with terminology and key concepts in the design, analysis, and interpretation of epidemiological research, giving students the tools they need to critically evaluate scientific literature.

Successfully tested in the authors' courses at Boston University and Harvard University for five years, this text combines theory and practice in presenting traditional and new epidemiologic concepts. Broad in scope, the text opens with five chapters covering the basic epidemiologic concepts and data sources. A major emphasis is placed on study design, with separate chapters devoted to each of the three main analytic designs: experimental, cohort, and case-control studies.

Full chapters on bias, confounding, and random error, including the roll of statistics in epidemiology, ensure that students are well-equipped with the necessary information to interpret the results of epidemiologic studies. An entire chapter is also devoted to the concept of effect measure modification, an often-neglected topic in introductory textbooks. Up-to-date examples from the epidemiologic literature on diseases of public health importance are provided throughout the book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 458 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763725374
• ISBN-13: 978-0763725372
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,166 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a good intro to epi book for students!, October 9, 2003

By A Customer

This book is an excellent introduction to epidemiology. The authors present epidemiologic concepts in an easy-to-understand manner with interesting supportive examples from the fields of reproductive health and HIV epidemiology. In addition to the standard chapters on study design, bias, and confounding, the book also includes very good chapters on measurement error, causation, and screening, as well as tried-and-proven guidelines for a critical review of epidemiologic studies. This text should be very helpful to beginning masters and doctoral students in epidemiology and public health.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great intro to epidemiology, December 4, 2006

By	W. D. Dotson "Doc Dave" (Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a required text for a graduate intro to epidemiology course that I took, and I've held on to it since then. Overall the content is well organized and clearly written. That being said, there were also a few important sections that I found very confusing, and there do appear to be at least a few errors in text and arithmetic. The authors are generally fairly concise in their descriptions of types of studies, sources of error, etc., which makes for good overall readability, however I often wished they would give a few more details and examples. In spite of these criticisms, I've looked through a lot of epidemiology books, and they all seem to have limitations. It's probably impossible to identify one introductory text that will be the best choice for everyone. No matter which one you pick up, you will likely benefit from having another one on hand for comparison when a passage or problem is unclear, confusing or underemphasized. In my opinion this book is an excellent choice for those with a general interest in epidemiology for public health practice and who are looking for good readability. I've found that it also serves as a good basic reference on epidemiological studies.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Easy and User Friendly , December 11, 2006

By	Robert Lipsitz "study but doubt, question and... (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great text for anyone studying epidemiology.

Each chapter on the various aspects of Epi (ie, Confounding, Effect Modification, Random Error, Bias, Causation, etc) is readable, relatively short chapters (no more then 20 pages) and very clearly explains the necessary information. Each chapter then has a concise (less then one page) summary, perfect for test studying or board review. In addition, each chapter has test questions with answers posted at the back of the book. This book even explains the underlying mathmetical principles better then most statistic texts I've used.

While you could probably get through Epidemialogy just reading the lecture notes, this book will guarantee you understand it (with out spending too much time) and get a 4.0.