Descriptive Epidemiology in Nursing: Diabetes in Asian Americans

Introduction to Descriptive Epidemiology in Nursing

The role of descriptive epidemiology in nursing science is very important, as it helps provide information that nurses can use to prevent the spread of disease, develop effective interventions, and engage in further research. A descriptive epidemiologic study examines a specific population and identifies the amount and distribution of health and disease within that population (Giroux, 2015). Descriptive epidemiology looks at variables such as person, place, and time — variables that affect the incidence of disease. Race, sex, age, socioeconomic status, geography, environment, and patterns of appearance are all factors that descriptive epidemiology considers when attempting to classify a disease's occurrence (Hsu, Araneta, Kanaya, Chiang, & Fujimoto, 2015).

The role of descriptive epidemiology in nursing is thus situated in the idea that it provides education, information, and a pathway to strategies for helping patients and preventing the spread of disease (Saggu, Rehman, Abbas, & Ansari, 2015). This paper provides a contemporary example of how descriptive epidemiology is applied in public health nursing and identifies the components used to analyze at-risk populations. The chosen focus is diabetes among Asian-Americans.

Applying Descriptive Epidemiology to Diabetes in Asian-Americans

Descriptive epidemiology is applied in public health nursing by addressing the 1) who, 2) what, 3) where, and 4) when questions associated with disease among a certain population. In contemporary medicine, for example, understanding the spread of diabetes among specific populations helps nurses in the public health sector better know how to treat patients who belong to those populations. Among Asian-Americans, Nguyen, Nguyen, Taylor-Fischer, and Tran (2015) report that the problem of diabetes is increasing, and this population has been identified as being at moderate risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The problem with understanding the rate of incidence among this population, however, is exacerbated by the fact that "Asian-American" is itself a broad label that can be more effectively broken down into specific ethno-labels — i.e., Filipino-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, and so on. Each group presents its own unique set of data. The Diabetes Prevention Program has undertaken the initiative to collect and analyze data from the various Asian-American population segments in hopes of providing nurses and health care providers with better information on incidence, health risks, and possible interventions and preventive approaches to help this population reduce the threat of diabetes (Nguyen et al., 2015). Descriptive epidemiology has been central to providing this information in order to control and mitigate the negative effects of diabetes among Asian-Americans.

Challenging the Myth: Diabetes Burden Among Asian-American Subgroups

For the Asian-American population, it was long believed — incorrectly — that diabetes would not be a major problem because of "the notion that Asian Americans are self-sufficient, well-educated, and have lower burdens of disease" (Nguyen et al., 2015, p. 544). However, this myth was disproved by descriptive epidemiologic studies that showed nearly 10% of all Asian-Americans are actually affected by diabetes. At the same time, by aggregating data across the various ethno-groups — from Filipino-Americans to Japanese-Americans to Chinese-Americans — researchers were masking the real disease burden among high-risk groups and inflating it among low-risk groups within the broader population (Nguyen et al., 2015). In other words, some Asian-American groups were actually far more at risk for diabetes than others.

Obtaining accurate information on population subgroups is an essential component of descriptive epidemiology, as it allows for more focused acquisition of knowledge regarding specific groups. Other components include assessing variables such as culture, daily eating and exercise habits, environment, and family background. Because the various ethno-groups within the Asian-American population have different cultural dimensions, ways of life, and environments, it is important to examine how subgroups differ from one another so that truly at-risk groups receive the preventive care they need.

Conclusion

The importance of descriptive epidemiologic studies for nurses is that they allow more variables and factors to receive attention from researchers, enabling a deeper understanding of the nature of disease within a population. With this information, adequate treatment and intervention plans can be developed, and preventive medicine can be conducted to reduce the risk of disease spread among the target population.

References

Giroux, É. (2015). Epidemiology and the bio-statistical theory of disease: A challenging perspective. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 36(3), 175–195.

Hsu, W. C., Araneta, M. R. G., Kanaya, A. M., Chiang, J. L., & Fujimoto, W. (2015). BMI cut points to identify at-risk Asian Americans for type 2 diabetes screening. Diabetes Care, 38(1), 150–158.

Nguyen, T. H., Nguyen, T. N., Taylor-Fischer, W. H., & Tran, T. V. (2015). Type 2 diabetes among Asian Americans: Prevalence and prevention. World Journal of Diabetes, 6(4), 543.

Saggu, S., Rehman, H., Abbas, Z. K., & Ansari, A. A. (2015). Recent incidence and descriptive epidemiological survey of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 36(10), 1176.