Epidemiological Methods and Statistics

Epidemiological methods and statistics are used to assess patterns, causes and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations. They provide key information for decisions about public health and use of health care. Epidemiological methods, tools, and techniques such as descriptive epidemiology, ecological studies, cohort and case-control studies, and statistical techniques for analyzing data are used in risk assessment, intervention evaluation and health services research. These methods and tools allow for the identification of risk factors, the evaluation of preventive interventions and health care services, the assessment of health disparities, the development of cost-effective interventions, and the measurement of outcomes related to health and disease.