Practical Clinical Epidemiology for the Veterinarian [Paperback]

Practical Clinical Epidemiology for the Veterinarian provides thorough coverage of the fundamentals of epidemiological concepts, situated within the context of daily clinical practice.

?Examines epidemiology from the lens of daily clinical practice to offer a truly practical approach
?Demonstrates the relevance of epidemiology to clinical problems faced in the field using practical examples to clarify the concepts
?Includes clinical cases from all species, with an emphasis on small animal and equine medicine, to demonstrate the concepts
?Uses an easy-to-read approach, with graphs, flowcharts, and tables to promote understanding
?Includes access to a companion website with exercises for study and review

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

About the companion website xiv

1 Describing health and disease 1

Case definition 1

What is the problem? 2

Who is affected? 4

Where is the disease concentrated? 5

When does disease occur? 5

Types of measurements 5

Counts 5

Proportions 7

Ratios 8

Rates 9

Specific measurements of disease 10

Prevalence 10

Incidence 13

Morbidity 16

Mortality 16

Disease?]specific mortality 16

Case?]fatality 17

2 Basic epidemiology concepts 19

Outcome 19

Risk factor 21

Unit of analysis 22

Types of variables 26

Appropriate statistical analyses for continuous/parametric variables 27

Appropriate statistical/