Epidemiology and Ethnic Diversity

Epidemiology is the study of patterns of disease, illness, and health that occur in populations according to variables of interest such as gender, age, race, and ethnicity. It is an interdisciplinary field that combines medical science, social and behavioral science, and biostatistics. Epidemio-logical research has provided an understanding of the progression of many illnesses and diseases from inception to end, or the natural history of a disease. This knowledge is useful in the design of health intervention and disease prevention programs, policy recommendations, and to highlight areas in need of change in the nation's health care system.

A guiding principle is that risks or exposures to diseases are unequally distributed among a continuum in a population, and this distribution is influenced by social forces, a relationship best examined at the population level. A defining feature that sets epidemiology apart from much of clinical medicine is its population-level focus, versus examination of the individual. A population is a group of people who share a common characteristic(s) of interest, such as geographical region, gender, or religion. This approach enables the identification of different patterns of health and illness across a population.