General Descriptive Epidemiology Concepts HCA 402

HCA 402 Grantham University Community Health Worksheet

C.1. General Descriptive Epidemiology Concepts HCA 402

Skills Assessment #1: Calculating Case Rates

All case rates have two things in common, 1) A numerator or case count, and 2) a denominator (population). Calculating case rates isn’t rocket science, but obtaining accurate numbers to describe a populations’ health can be quite a challenge. So, let’s start with a case with available numbers.

A grade school asthma study was performed at Dolphin View Elementary. There were 120 asthma cases in a school population of 1,500. During the calendar year 2011, of the 120 cases total, 20 cases were newly diagnosed. There was 1 death during the year studies due to acute status asthmaticus.

1) Calculate the disease prevalence, disease incidence and mortality rate for the school.

Dolphin View Elementary Asthma Study: (Illustrative) Meyer (2012)

 Epidemiology Case Counts = 120 Population = 1,500 New Cases = 20 Deaths = 1 Time Period CY 2011

The quantitative existence of the disease in the population

Prevalence Rate = number of diseased people at a point in time/ number of individuals in the population

cases _______ x 1,000 = population ______Cases per 1,000

The speed of new cases of a disease in the population

Incidence Rate = number of new cases during the set time period/ number of individuals in the population

 cases _______ population x 1,000 = ______Cases per 1,000

 Mortality Rate = number of new deaths of the disease in the period/ sum of risk period for all individuals

 Case(s) _______ x 1,000 = population ______Cases per 1,000

2) How may the school administration and public health epidemiologists use this information to monitor and improve the health of Dolphin View Elementary students and its community at large?