Epidemiology Report: Analyzing Health Policies and Outbreaks

This report delves into key epidemiological concepts, focusing on childhood obesity and the management of coronavirus outbreaks. It explores the use of incidence and prevalence data in formulating effective public health policies, offering recommendations to a State Minister for Health on mitigating childhood obesity and advising on Australia's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The report further investigates study designs suitable for examining the relationship between work-related factors and mental health, proposing a case-control observational study to analyze the impact of work overload. Additionally, it addresses the inappropriate use of randomized controlled trials in specific public health contexts, providing examples and justifications. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications for improving health outcomes and managing public health crises.

Epidemiology

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
Module 1.....................................................................................................................................................3
Imagine you are providing advice to a State Minister for Health on a new policy to mitigate childhood
obesity. Would you use incidence or prevalence data to support your policy and why?..........................3
How Australia should manage an outbreak of Coronavirus. Would you present him/her with incidence
or prevalence data to support your policy and why?................................................................................4
Module 2.....................................................................................................................................................5
What study designs could be used to explore the relationships between work-related factors and mental
health? Suggest a proposed observational study design for a study which considers the relationship
between work overload and mental health. Why did you choose this study design?...............................5
Module 3.....................................................................................................................................................5
When would the use of a randomized controlled trial be inappropriate? Give a public health example
and outline the reasons for your conclusion why randomized control trial would not be appropriate in
this context..............................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Epidemiology can be defined as the study and of distribution and different patterns of
health as well as disease conditions. The study helps in saving lives as well as improving the
long-term health of individuals (Giesecke, 2017). The report discusses about incidence and
prevalence and is about providing advice to a State Minister of Health about a new policy about
how can child obesity be mitigated. It also provides advice about how should Australia manage
the outbreak of Coronavirus since its spread is increasing across the world.
Module 1
Imagine you are providing advice to a State Minister for Health on a new policy to mitigate
childhood obesity. Would you use incidence or prevalence data to support your policy and why?
Over the last few years, obesity as well as being overweight among children have
increased as compared to the previous years. It has become more prevalent than any other health
issue and is taking a serious form gradually. It is harmful for the children in several ways and can
lead to serious health issues like high cholesterol and a high blood pressure. Obesity during the
childhood years can also lead to an increased risk of insulin resistance as well as type 2 diabetes.
Children can also face issues like insomnia, increased chances of being obese as an adult as well
as poor self-esteem. Therefore, it is important to seek different measures so that this can be
reduced.
In order to formulate a new policy to reduce obesity during childhood there are various
practices that should be included. Drinking water, avoiding junk food, eating healthy snacks,
fruits and green vegetables as well as incorporating physical activity in the daily routine are
some healthy practices that should be included in the policy (Peto, 2016). Also, before
implementing the policy, it should be thoroughly reviewed and cross-checked by professionals
so that there are no errors of any kind in the same. Childhood obesity is a trouble not only for the
child but his/her parents as well. The policy should state that one of the best ways to mitigate
child obesity to have a healthy schedule and improve eating habits. The policy should not only
describe the solutions to reduce the problem but also the consequences of not adopting the same.
Incidence data like the frequency, occurrence etc. will be used as these facts will help
putting strong points regarding how important is it to control and reduce obesity among children.

The data to be presented will be collected through various online as well as offline sources
including journals, magazines as well as the official online website of the World Health
Organization (WHO). Incidence is a great way to describe the spread of a particular disease or
particular condition. Incidence particularly describes the number or rate of new occurrences of a
certain condition within a particular population (Thrusfield, 2018). Thus, using incidence data
will be more effective than as compared to prevalence data within the country in order to
formulate an effective policy.
How Australia should manage an outbreak of Coronavirus. Would you present him/her with
incidence or prevalence data to support your policy and why?
Coronavirus or COVID-19 is an infectious disease primarily caused when a healthy
person comes in contact with the one who is infected when he/she coughs or sneezes. The
disease has different symptoms same as that of a respiratory illness like fever, cough, difficulty
in breathing etc. The disease broke out during the end of last year and its spread has only been
increasing since then. It has affected several countries, Italy, China, United States of America
and Spain being the major ones. In order to completely eradicate the disease or manage the same,
different countries have opted for several precautions, lockdown being one of them. Australia is
also one of the countries that has been hit by the pandemic with the number of people infected
only rising.
The country can manage the outbreak of the coronavirus by adopting various practices
like asking the citizens to not move out of their houses until it’s absolutely necessary. Also, they
should be asked to wash their hands with soap properly and maintain consult a doctor
immediately if anyone feels like he/she symptoms of the diseases are showing up (How to
prepare for coronavirus, 2020). The government of the company can announce a complete
lockdown if the situation gets too serious. Older people as well as children should not be allowed
to move out of the house etc. Also, if the cases continue to grow, the hospitals should be advised
to bring in additional staff as well as new clinics should also be established so as to reduce the
burden on the healthcare system.
Incidence refers to new occurrences of a particular disease or condition and presenting
this kind of data will be used to support the policy as this will help in creating awareness among
the people as well as making them more informed (Tysnes and Storstein, 2017). The data will

also help the health minister in measuring the further risk of the disease as well as the frequency
of any new cases occurring. Thus, if Australia wants to manage and overcome this pandemic
disease, it should take the same seriously and implement all the measures that are necessary and
will help it in managing the condition as well as reducing its impact on the economy (Ziaeian
and Fonarow, 2016). Calculations can also be made regarding if the situation will arise and thus
effective measures can be taken.
Module 2
What study designs could be used to explore the relationships between work-related factors and
mental health? Suggest a proposed observational study design for a study which considers the
relationship between work overload and mental health. Why did you choose this study design?
Observational study designs basically include cross-sectional and ecological designs,
diagnostic study design being an important subset of the same. The two types of observational
study design are cohort and case-control study designs. In order to understand the relationship
between work-related factors and mental health, a case-control study design can be used. It can
be defined as a type of observational study wherein two groups that differ from each other are
identified. They are then compared to each other on the basis of a particular attribute.
This particular research design is chosen because it is not very costly and also the amount
of time involved is less. They are also advantageous when dynamic populations are studied and
allows to study various exposures. Another reason behind choosing this particular study design is
that it is based on existing sources of data wherein the sample size is small. Therefore, by using
case-control observational study design, a better understanding of the relationship of various
work-related factors and mental health can be understood. This will help in formulating effective
strategies so as to minimize any kind of negative impact on the people. Also, there is no follow-
up required ad the relationship between the factors can be effectively understood.

Module 3
When would the use of a randomized controlled trial be inappropriate? Give a public health
example and outline the reasons for your conclusion why randomized control trial would not be
appropriate in this context
A randomized controlled trial can be defined as a kind of study or experiment whose
main aim is to reduce particular sources of bias when the effectiveness of a new treatment is
tested. This is usually done by randomly allocating people to different groups, who are then
treated differently and then compared to each other. The use of a randomized controlled trial
would be inappropriate without any proper planning and analysis. Also, it is necessary to have
two or more groups of people without which the effectiveness of a particular treatment cannot be
tested. A Randomized Controlled Treatment is also inappropriate to use when rapid effects of a
particular treatment can be demonstrated easily.
For example- during the removal of cataract, it is not appropriate to use a randomized
controlled trial because the effects of the treatment can be demonstrated easily. Therefore, it can
be said the Randomized Controlled Trials should not be used during progressive or stable
conditions. It is also not necessary to use the same during very large treatment effect. Therefore,
randomized controlled trials do not always imitate a real-life situation and also, it is often
impossible to get an informed consent. Lastly, it is also inappropriate to use an RCT on
treatments that have dramatic effects and are accepted because of evidence from various case
studies.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that child obesity is a condition that can
impact a child adversely and should thud be taken into account seriously. On the other hand, the
spread of coronavirus has taken the world by storm. It has affected many countries of the world
and is increasing constantly. Thus, in order to completely eradicate this condition countries
should take major steps as well as measures so that its spread can be controlled. Implementing
such measures will help in overcoming the situation as well as defeating the coronavirus once
and for all.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Giesecke, J. (2017). Modern infectious disease epidemiology. CRC Press.
Peto, R. (2016). Epidemiology, multistage models, and short-term mutagenicity tests.
International journal of epidemiology. 45(3). 621-637.
Thrusfield, M. (2018). Veterinary epidemiology. John Wiley & Sons.
Tysnes, O. B., & Storstein, A. (2017). Epidemiology of Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neural
Transmission. 124(8). 901-905.
Ziaeian, B., & Fonarow, G. C. (2016). Epidemiology and aetiology of heart failure. Nature
Reviews Cardiology. 13(6). 368-378.
Online
How to prepare for coronavirus. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.redcross.org.au/get-help/emergencies/looking-after-yourself/how-to-
prepare-for-coronavirus>.