Epidemiology An Introduction

Across the last fifty years, epidemiology has developed into a vibrant scientific discipline that brings together the social and biological sciences, incorporating everything from statistics to the philosophy of science in its aim to study and track the distribution and determinants of health events. A now-classic text, the third edition of this essential introductory textbook gives an overview of the core concepts that form the underpinnings of epidemiology and epidemiologic research. Rather than focusing on statistics or formulas, Epidemiology presents the underlying epidemiologic principles and concepts in a coherent and straightforward exposition. This core content is supplemented with historical notes, a discussion of scientific inference, details about infectious disease epidemiology, and some advanced topics--including how to deal with missing data, the use of causal diagrams, and quantitative bias analysis techniques--that serve as an on-ramp into further study for those who elect to pursue it. By emphasizing a unifying set of ideas, students will develop a strong foundation for understanding the principles of epidemiologic research.

Kenneth J. Rothman, DrPH, is Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is also Distinguished Fellow Emeritus at the Research Triangle Institute, an independent nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. His research interests in epidemiology have spanned a range of health problems that includes cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurologic disease, birth defects, injuries, environmental exposures, and drug epidemiology. His main career focus, however, has been the development and teaching of the concepts and methods of epidemiologic research.

Krista F. Huybrechts, PhD, is Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she teaches graduate-level courses in epidemiology. Her research centers on generating evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of medication use during pregnancy to inform the unique benefit-risk trade-off faced by women of reproductive age and pregnant women. She is particularly interested in the proper use of large databases derived from health data collected in the context of routine medical care to address causal questions in perinatal epidemiology. She is a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.

Eleanor J. Murray, ScD, is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. Her research is on translational methodology for improving the quality of epidemiologic research, with particular focus on causal inference methods. She has developed and applied novel methods across a wide variety of public health issues including infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, alcohol and drug use disorders, occupational health issues, reproductive and perinatal health, and pharmacoepidemiology.

Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction to Epidemiologic Thinking
Chapter 2: Pioneers in Epidemiology and Public Health
Chapter 3: What Is Causation?
Chapter 4: Measures of Disease Occurrence, Association, and Causal Effects
Chapter 5: Types of Epidemiologic Studies
Chapter 6: Dealing with Biases
Chapter 7: Random Error and the Role of Statistics
Chapter 8: Analyzing Simple Epidemiologic Data
Chapter 9: Stratified Analysis
Chapter 10: Using Regression Models in Epidemiologic Analysis
Chapter 11: Measuring Interactions
Chapter 12: Epidemiology in Clinical Settings
Chapter 13: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Chapter 14: Field Epidemiology
An Introduction to Some Advanced Topics
Index