Describe one use of epidemiology and in the information generated by epidemiological approaches for today’s health care system. Compare and contrast descriptive and analytical studies, cohort and case control studies in epidemiology in terms of their uses, advantages and disadvantages, and typical statistical approaches to the analysis and report of findings. Provide a brief example of each type of study from your own health care experience or the course readings— For Question 2, for the first three students to post, address descriptive and analytical studies (uses, advantages, disadvantages and an example of typical statistics). For the remaining students, address cohort and case control using the same categories. Please say something about these 2 posting from students; Positing 1: Epidemiologic Approaches and Application to Advanced Practice Describe one use of epidemiology and in the information generated by epidemiological approaches for today’s health care system. One use of epidemiology today includes biosecurity, which is defined by Websters Dictionary as “security from exposure to harmful biological agents and the measures taken to ensure this security” (Merriam-Webster, 2017). This aspect of epidemiology is best viewed through a system theory approach because the process requires a micro to macro assessment in order to properly and effectively impact our health systems. One example of this is the Swine and Avian flu pandemics which included animal and human health monitoring, resulting in the concern for the potential loss of human lives. However, the hysteria these episodes created was met with an urgent need for a vaccination, a that route bypassed regulations for efficacy and safety in order to meet the current needs. “This strong defensive attitude sometimes brings about collateral damage” (Mutsaers, 2015, p.123). However, by methodically following the path of these viruses and analyzing their evolving strains and prevalence virologists are able to create an appropriate vaccine. “Biosecurity measures taken in response to viral threats” (Mutsaers, 2015, p. 123) depends completely on epidemiological modeling. Compare and contrast descriptive and analytical studies (uses, advantages, disadvantages and an example of typical statistics). Biosecurity involves the need for both descriptive and analytical studies because surveillance of all aspects contributing to the health concerns are needed. Descriptive studies include demographic and social variables, infrastructure, health related outcomes, and environmental variables (Friis & Sellers, 2014). For example, for the avian and swine flu, all of these variables were assessed by multiple disciplines in order to relate them to the human condition. Investigating exposures to animals, the soil they live on, the water that runs off this soil, and surrounding communities (individuals dwellings, work, food) are all descriptive and are statistically an advantage and disadvantage. The information provided (patterns) can lead to analytical studies but the descriptive variables are often vast and great making it impossible to account for them all. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the main component of an analytic study is a comparison group (2012). Therefore, all the descriptive data provides the basis for a comparison group. For the avian and swine flu pandemics, this data would include geographic location, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and environmental components to assess for cause and effect (CDC, 2012). The disadvantages include the analytical studies can be time-consuming, costly, and ultimately inconclusive. posting 2: Describe one use of epidemiology and in the information generated by epidemiological approaches for today’s health care system. I work for Mayo Clinic Health System. Starting mid-2017, the Mayo Clinic embarked on a its largest project to date of the implementation of a universal electronic health record (EHR) across all Mayo Clinic sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and Arizona. Epidemiological data can be extracted from the EHR more readily than from a paper records, leading to such things as analysis of anesthesia-related mortality, disparities in the use of evidence-based practice in anesthesia, and intraoperative influences on patient outcomes. Working in rural anesthesia, I lack sample sizes large enough to statistically power any data that I gather. I am excited about the potential! Compare and contrast cohort and case control studies in epidemiology in terms of their uses, advantages and disadvantages, and typical statistical approaches to the analysis and report of findings. Provide a brief example of each type of study from your own health care experience or the course readings— Case control study Analytical study that compares patients who have a disease (cases) to those who do not have a disease (controls). Retrospective. Uses: Study of infectious disease outbreaks investigation, chronic disease investigation where etiology is unknown, and hypothesis testing. An example would be the association between obstructive sleep apnea and postoperative respiratory complications in patients undergoing general anesthesia. Advantages: requires less time for completion, allows for lower costs, utility in studying rare diseases, permits evaluation of multiple risk factors Disadvantages: does not provide direct estimation of risk, limited by recall bias, lacks application to rare exposures Typical statistics: Odds ratio (Friis & Sellers, 2014) Cohort studies Analytical study that follows a cohort with an exposure, but without a disease, to determine the risk of developing disease. Typically prospective. Uses: Study of risk estimation, chronic disease etiology, and hypothesis testing. An example would be a cohort of children exposed to general anesthesia and the risk of developing learning problems. Advantages: permits direct determination of risk, strengthens evidence of exposure-to-disease relationship, shows utility in studying rare exposures Disadvantages: takes considerable effort and duration, subject to selection bias, subject to attrition Typical statistics: relative risk (Friis & Sellers, 2014)