General description

An introductory course to epidemiology, consisting both of lectures and practical exercises

Learning outcomes

To provide the students with an understanding on epidemiological concepts and the ability to critically interpret reports from epidemiological studies.

Contents

The scope of epidemiology and its basic concepts
Concepts and measures of disease occurrence
Measurement of associations between exposures and outcomes
Defining exposure and outcome, validity of measurements
Systematic error (bias), random error and confounding
Essential elements, strengths and weaknesses of typical epidemiological research designs
Ecological studies
Cross-sectional studies
Case-control studies
Cohort studies
Randomized controlled trials and other intervention studies
Scientific inference: distinction between association, causality, confounding or inconclusive results

Further information on prerequisites and recommendations

Students have to register for the course on the internet at http://www.uta.fi/nettiopsu/. Deadline for the registration is two weeks before the course starts. Web page https://learning.uta.fi/ (for enrolled students)

Teaching methods

Teaching method	Contact	Online
Lectures
Exercises

Lectures and practical exercises, examination

Teaching language

English

Evaluation and evaluation criteria

Numeric 1-5.
Practical exercises are graded on a scale of pass/fail. The exam is graded on a scale of 1-5 or failed.

Recommended year of study

1. year autumn

Autumn 2011, Period I, weeks 38-40

Study materials

Belongs to following study modules