Final answer:
Epidemiology is the study of the occurrence, distribution, and determinants of health and disease in a population. It involves studying the frequency and distribution of diseases within human populations. Two important measures in epidemiology are incidence and prevalence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Epidemiology is the study of the occurrence, distribution, and determinants of health and disease in a population. It is, therefore, part of public health. An epidemiologist studies the frequency and distribution of diseases within human populations and environments.
Two specific statistical measures widely used in epidemiological investigations are incidence and prevalence. Incidence is a measure of the number of new cases of a disease during a specific time period. Prevalence refers to the total number of both new and existing cases in a population over time.
Epidemiology is a science that studies the causes and effects of health-related events as they occur in populations. Disease, defined as a deviation from health, is one such health-related event of concern to epidemiologists, so in that regard, epidemiology is often thought of as the study of disease in populations.