Role of Descriptive Epidemiology in Nursing Science

Introduction
Public health as a field comprises the convictions, science, and skills relating to the preservation and improvement of the health of the general public through preventative endeavors instead of curative ones. One of the basic sciences that are critical to promoting public health is epidemiology. As a tool, epidemiology is useful in the protection and promotion of public health through the application of common sense as well as scientific reasoning (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). One of the main areas of epidemiology is descriptive epidemiology. Descriptive epidemiology focuses on the description of diseases and their determinants. It is useful in the organization and analysis of various diseases and the occurrences of those diseases in the given geographical area over time. Descriptive epidemiology is therefore capable of generating etiological research hypotheses (Liu, 2018). This paper discusses the role of descriptive epidemiology in nursing today.
Descriptive Epidemiology
Descriptive epidemiology refers to a method of data organization and analysis with the goal of understanding the differences that exist in the frequency of occurrence of diseases in a given geographical area over time. It also looks at how health differs among people based on factors such as place, time, and person. It is useful in the identification of trends in health and diseases and helps stakeholders organize resources effectively to fight diseases. Also, it is very useful in the formulation of hypotheses on various health-related topics (Richards & Cai, 2016). Such hypotheses are useful in the testing of various theories and to draw associations between various health outcomes and disease determinants.
In science today, epidemiology plays several roles including the identification of emerging health issues, monitoring of the health of populations, reporting on the health status of populations, helping stakeholders prioritize health issues, and the evaluation of possible associations between risk factors and health outcomes. These associations can alert stakeholders about serious threats such as bioterrorism and help measure how efficient the intervention strategies employed are.
Time, person, and place are important concepts in epidemiology. Data is usually compiled and analyzed based on these three factors. This is especially true in nursing (Katzmarzyk et al., 2017). Further, accounts created about the health of a population are also expressed using tables, graphs, and maps.
Time
With the change of seasons or the passage of time, there are usually significant changes in the occurrence of a disease in a given population. The changes due to the passage of time can be both predictable and unpredictable. Also, some diseases may occur randomly at any time as is the case with salmonellosis (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). For seasonal diseases, health stakeholders can make accurate predictions of their occurrence and therefore put in control or preventative measures.
Place
Geographical location can be used to describe a disease’s occurrence. Such details help show the disparities that exist on the occurrence of the disease geographically. When place is used as characterization, the disease’s place of residence is taken into account. Other relevant geographical data is also recorded. The location in question can be small as a village or as big as an entire nation (Mandl, Halfena, & Lohmann, 2015).
Person
When the person is used as characterization, inherent characteristics such as age and sex as well as other characteristics such as living conditions and personal habits are brought into consideration. Age is crucial as it is a major determinant of the general health of an individual.
Contemporary Application Example of Descriptive Epidemiology in Public Health Nursing
The application of descriptive epidemiology revolves around the value of the discipline as a primary science that helps explain health and diseases in populations. It provides the data needed by healthcare stakeholders to devise public health initiatives to prevent diseases and improve the health of communities. Because it is a discipline in public health nursing, it provides information that is used to direct policy and initiatives in public health nursing and related concerns (Richards & Cai, 2016). In the treatment process of an individual patient, medics apply experience, creativity, and scientific knowledge. Similarly, in the diagnosis of a community, experience, creativity, and scientific methodology are needed. All three are provided by epidemiology.
Descriptive epidemiology is also useful in the description of disease spectrums. Diseases initiate an alteration process of the biological systems of their hosts. While many diseases have limited alteration capability, some like measles can result in diverse end-points (Oyesanya et al., 2018). For example, most rubeola infections lead to classical febrile. However, some infections may result in hemorrhagic rash and acute encephalitis. Down the line, the infection may result in Sub-acute Sclerosing Pan-encephalitis (SSPE) which is a deadly condition affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Many epidemiological studies have been utilized to shed light on the disease spectrums that result from various agents and conditions. For instance, cohort research works have been used in the documentation of the contribution of hypertension in triggering chronic kidney disease, myocardial infarct, and stroke. For diseases such as SSPE that occur infrequently, case-control research has been useful in identifying the roles played by agents (Oyesanya et al., 2018). When health professionals know the spectrum of conditions that can arise from particular infections and conditions, they are better equipped to institute intervention strategies. Such strategies can include screening and treatment of the conditions as well as educating the public about the disease. Therefore, the application of descriptive epidemiology helps in the identification of a disease spectrum and the improvement of public health nursing.
Epidemiology Components Used to Analyze at-risk Populations
Epidemiology design studies can be generally divided into two groups: experimental and observational. Observational refers to when a professional studies an already occurring event without interfering with the normal life of the event while experimental involves the doing of trials to identify the effects such alterations can have on the concern’s health outcomes (Richards & Cai, 2016). Different study designs are used in the analysis of populations that are at risk.
Case Series
A case series refers to the report generated by various situations or cases that show comparable sets of symptoms detailing a new or uncommon syndrome. It is usually drawn from singular cases and may lead to the drawing of hypotheses on the risk factors or the disease itself (Mandl et al., 2015). Because it is individualistic, it normally leads to further research and study.
Cross-Section Study
Cross-section studies are done at a particular point in time. It involves the collection of a sample from the subject population with data being collected through questionnaires or self-completed reviews. This study design is very useful in epidemiology since it assists in the estimation of the occurrence, prevalence, and incidence of various health conditions (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). Nonetheless, cross-section study has various limitations such as the tendency for low-response rates which generally results in a lower representation of the population in samples.
Ecological Study
This is a variation of the cross-section study where the study analysis is not focused on the individual but a particular geographical location. A scatter graph is usually used to represent the relationship between exposure and the outcomes being studies (Heavey, 2018). Ecological studies have the same demerits as cross-section studies.
Case-Control Study
A case-control study is a comparison of a group of people with the same condition with an identical group not having the condition being used as the control group. The two groups are derived from one population. The goal of the study is usually to identify the risk factors leading to the condition by drawing a parallel to the exposure the control is put through (Colditz, Nguyen & Dart, 2016). To ensure that the arising differences are not because of confounding factors such as age and gender, matching is normally done by having controls that reflect these factors.
Cohort Study
This involves drawing a group of subjects from a given population and recording their exposure level at the start of the exercise and then following the group for the duration of the study to identify any health changes (Katzmarzyk et al., 2017). The researcher normally considers different exposures and outcomes and they are measured by self-questionnaire, observation, or from linkages to already existing data.
Conclusion
Epidemiology is a foundational science in public health. It helps in the assessment of the impact of the efforts of public health stakeholders and also outlines the nature of various conditions in given populations. It is an ever-evolving field and new strategies and methods that yield better results for public health efforts are developed year over year.
Descriptive epidemiology categorizes the appearance and occurrence of diseases based on variables such as person, place, and time. It is useful in the development of hypotheses that are widely used in analytical epidemiology. It is also useful in identifying the health concerns that should be given utmost priority when interventions are being devised. There are many kinds of descriptive epidemiology including case reports, case series, and cross-section. The application of descriptive epidemiology is a necessity when devising methods to protect against threats to populations.
References
Liu, L., (2018). “Chapter 1 – Introduction.” In Heart Failure: Epidemiology and Research Methods. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 1-12.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2015). Public health nursing-e-book: Population-centered health care in the community. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Richards, E. A., & Cai, Y. (2016). Integrative review of nurse-delivered physical activity interventions in primary care. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 38(4), 484-507.
Katzmarzyk, P. T., Lee, I. M., Martin, C. K., & Blair, S. N. (2017). Epidemiology of physical activity and exercise training in the United States. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 60(1), 3-10.
Mandl, M., Halfens, R. J., & Lohrmann, C. (2015). Incontinence care in nursing homes: a cross?sectional study. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(9), 2142-2152.
Oyesanya, T. O., Bowers, B. J., Royer, H. R., & Turkstra, L. S. (2018). Nurses’ concerns about caring for patients with acute and chronic traumatic brain injury. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(7-8), 1408-1419.
Heavey, E. (2018). Statistics for nursing: A practical approach. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Colditz, G., Nguyen, N., & Dart, H. (2016). Physical activity and health. In International Encyclopedia of Public Health (pp. 463-472). Elsevier Inc.