Gepubliceerd in:
2017 | OriginalPaper | Hoofdstuk
1. Epidemiology
Auteurs : L. M. Bouter, G. A. Zielhuis, M. P. A. Zeegers
Uitgeverij: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum
Abstract
‘Epidemiology’ is a term that not many people are familiar with: most will trip over the word when they try to pronounce it for the first time. Many professionals in healthcare and health research have only a vague notion of what it means. This is certainly not the case with the concept of an ‘epidemic’, which in most people conjures up a picture of a sudden outbreak of an infectious disease such as influenza or an intestinal disorder. It will come as no surprise to learn that the familiar term ‘epidemic’ and the relatively unfamiliar term ‘epidemiology’ are closely related. Associating these two concepts can be instructive, but it can also be dangerous, as an overly narrow interpretation of ‘epidemic’ can easily cause misunderstanding as to what epidemiology really is and what present-day epidemiologists study.