Abstract
This chapter introduces some concepts originally developed in the field of public health/epidemiology, to provide the reader with a set of rather technical criteria to distinguish significant public health problems from those of relatively minor importance. First, the classic definitions of public health and epidemiology are reviewed. This is followed by a discussion on how a public health problem is conceptualized, with a strong emphasis on “magnitude,” “transcendence,” and “vulnerability” as the core elements upon which to base health policies, health interventions, and delivery of clinical care. The text then explains the main differences between the population-based and clinical approaches to health/disease causation, subsequently bringing to light some examples of dermatologic conditions that may be considered public health problems while being comparatively less important in the context of clinical care. Readers, especially medical doctors and health professionals in general, are encouraged to use the aforementioned concepts if high-quality care is to be offered to all (dermatologic) patients.
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Suggested Literature
As a resource for further learning, we recommend the following bibliographic references to interested readers:
Fletcher RH, Fletcher SW, Fletcher GS. Clinical epidemiology: the essentials. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Health; 2014.
Keyes KM, Galea S. Epidemiology matters: a new introduction to methodological foundations. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.
Rothman KJ, Greenland S, Lash TL. Modern epidemiology. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008.
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Glossary
Glossary
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Causes (of diseases or health states/processes): any factor, condition, or process that is responsible for changes or specific states in a specific health outcome
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Distribution (of diseases or health states/processes): frequency of a health condition according to personal, spatial, and/or temporal characteristics
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Epidemiology: study of disease frequency, disease distribution, and the causes that determine both disease frequency and disease distribution in human populations
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Frequency (of diseases or health states/processes): number of affected individuals relative to a specific population or group
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Magnitude: extent to which a given health condition is frequent in a given population
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Prevalence: refers to a simple mathematical calculation whereby the number of affected individuals is divided by the total population in question
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Public health problem: any health condition showing magnitude, transcendence, and vulnerability. It is important to note that, according to this chapter, other criteria are commonly used to define public health problems, including social, historical, economic, and political concerns
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Public health: “[…] the science and the art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health” [1]
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Transcendence: extent to which a health condition produces expressive negative impacts on individuals and societies
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Vulnerability: availability of knowledge and resources to counteract any health issue
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Bastos, J.L., Duquia, R.P., Martínez-Mesa, J. (2018). Concepts of Relevants Diseases in Public Health. In: Bonamigo, R., Dornelles, S. (eds) Dermatology in Public Health Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33919-1_1
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