Epidemiology for Canadian Students, 3rd Ed.

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An introduction to the principles and methods of epidemiology in a Canadian context

The third edition of Epidemiology for Canadian Students updates the only introductory epidemiology textbook grounded in Canadian research and studies, and it takes into account the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through this resource, students will learn core concepts, while also familiarizing themselves with Canadian registries, special-purpose cohorts, provincial health administrators, national statistical agencies and other sources that inform epidemiologic research in Canada.

The third edition includes new links to Statistics Canada resources, updated examples with reference to recent Canadian and international literature on topics such as COVID-19, and expanded coverage of causal diagrams.

Topics include:

• Basic principles and why epidemiological reasoning matters for health professionals
• Key parameters in descriptive and analytical epidemiology
• Sources of error in epidemiology and ways to quantify and control error
• The concept of bias, which is introduced with basic parameter estimates to make it more accessible to students
• Key study designs and their vulnerability to error
• How to use critical appraisal and causal judgement to evaluate epidemiological studies

Table of Contents

PART I: FIRST PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
1. What is epidemiology?
2. Epidemiological reasoning
PART II: FUNDAMENTAL DESCRIPTIVE PARAMETERS
3. Basic measures based on frequencies and rates
4. Specialized mortality rates and composite measures of disease burden
PART III: VULNERABILITY TO ERROR OF DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES
5. Random error from sampling
6. Measurement error that leads to misclassification
7. Misclassification bias in descriptive studies
8. Selection error and selection bias in descriptive studies
9. Confounding in descriptive studies
PART IV: STUDY DESIGNS AND THEIR VULNERABILITY TO ERROR
10. Cross-sectional studies
11. Case-control studies
12. Differential and nondifferential misclassification bias in analytical studies
13. Prospective cohort studies
14. Confounding and effect modification in analytical studies
15. Stratified analysis and regression modelling in analytical studies
16. Other study designs
17. Other measures of association in epidemiology
PART V: EVALUATING EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES
18. Causal judgement in epidemiology
19. Steps in critical appraisal
Answers to questions
Glossary
References
Index
About the author