Epidemiology

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Abstract Descriptive epidemiology is based on two important premises which are central in the field. The first premise states that disease does not occur in isolation. Secondly, patterns of disease occurrence are placed under three important categories of person, place and time. This paper seeks to build understanding on the three areas by giving relevant examples where they are applied.

Epidemiology
Person
In Epidemiology studies the important demographic information will include age, sex, marital status, race, ethnicity, and religion and socioeconomic status. Age is considered the most important factor and is used in analyzing trends in disease occurrence. Advancement in age may be associated with the occurrence of degenerative diseases. The elderly are also linked with several challenges. Changes marking age are shown by two important phases in life which shows greater frequency (Descriptive Epidemiology n.d). Sex as a second determinant of the person, and allows us to make references across sexes. For instance psychological studies have revealed that women cope well in the event of stress than men. Marital status is closer to this, and in epidemiology studies, it can be useful in establishing patterns of chronic diseases across genders (Descriptive Epidemiology n.d). Race and ethnicity have been used in epidemiology studies to show patterns of disease across the different races and ethnic groups. Recent studies in America, for instance, reveal that the blacks are more prone to obesity and life style diseases when compared to the white population. Other findings reveal that the African community records the highest mortality compared to different ethnic groups (Descriptive Epidemiology n.d). Migration patterns may mean the individual moving to a foreign country, or remaining at his place of birth. In Epidemiology studies this is important, since natural experiments done have pointed to how environment may affect the predisposition to disease. Socioeconomic status of the person may point to their lifestyle, which in turn may predict their likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases. The poor, for instance are likely to make wrong food choices that can predispose them to obesity and other lifestyle diseases. When determining the socioeconomic class, epidemiology studies looks at the person’s occupation, level of education, income and in some instances a combination of the above (Descriptive Epidemiology n.d).
Place
Important characteristics in place include the understanding of infectious and chronic diseases, which reveal different patterns in countries. We can gain insight by comparing disease frequency in different countries as well as their rates within countries. Another important characteristic is the difference in disease prevalence in urban and rural settings. This can provide us with knowledge of comparison based locations, as well as explanation for disease variation.
Time
In epidemiology we are usually interested in the pattern of disease frequency. For example the occurrence of certain disease conditions like common cold may be due to fluctuation in weather. Other Epidemics have been known to occur at certain periods. For instance chronic illnesses may exhibit patterns of secular trend in timing Other interesting features in place epidemics include the cohort and clustering effects, which can exhibit different patterns in the spread of disease. For instance in clustered populations results of rare disease may be isolated. In temporal clusters populations’ emphasis is placed in managing diseases occurring in sparse populations, and spatial clustered populations involve disease management in high prone areas.
Conclusion
Descriptive epidemiology is very important in helping us understanding the context of disease, which is majorly informed by definite characteristics of the population. This helps in reinforcing the findings of our study, since we can only construct our social world through observation and experimentation as found in research.

Reference
Descriptive Epidemiology (n.d): Person, Place and Time. Retrieved from http://viking.coe.uh.edu/~bsekula/pep7313/down/Ch.%204%20Friis.htm