Definition
Epidemiology is a branch or subspecialty of medical studies and sciences that examines the incidence, causes, distribution, control, and transmission of a disease within a population of interest. It can also examine the genesis and developmental characteristics of a specific disease. For example, in examining the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI), one would expect to learn more about the incidence, prevalence, annual rates, risk factors (including sex, race, and age), and causes of TBI.
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References and Readings
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007). What is epidemiology? Retrieved 26 Dec 2007, from http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/distribution_epi/epidemiology.htm.
Ficker-Terrill, C., Flippo, K., Antoinette, T., & McMorrow, D. B. (2007). Overview of brain injury. In The essential brain injury guide (4th ed., pp. 1–24). McLean: Brain Injury Association of America.
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Backhaus, S. (2018). Epidemiology. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_239
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_239
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