ReviewPloS one2018
What is epidemiology? Changing definitions of epidemiology 1978-2017.
Review in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- Risk assessment of selected bacterial infections acquired in intensive care units in Poland in the years 2019-2023-analysis with the application of the standardized infection ratio.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Toward feminist principles for epidemiology and public health.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- [Medical Practice, Epidemiology, and Evidence-Based Medicine: A necessary triangle in healthcare].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2025Article
- Phenotyping Chronic Pain and Neuropathic Pain in Population Studies.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Review
- Role of Field Epidemiology in Environmental and Climate Change-Related Health Incidents in Wales: A Qualitative Analysis Through Expert Interviews.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Antimicrobial resistance and phylogenetic lineages of KPC-2-producing blood-borneMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Advancing methods for program evaluation in substance use by strengthening the application of epidemiology, economic evaluation, and implementation science: Reflections on the opportunities for synergy.Evaluation and program planning · 2025Article
- Barriers to health insurance uptake in Rwanda: a nationwide cross-sectional survey.The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- Can Broadening the Kidney Biopsy Criteria Reduce Misleading Diagnoses in Young Patients with End-Stage Renal Diseases? A Survey on the Sicilian Registry of Nephrology, Dialysis, and Transplantation.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Food Webs and Feedbacks: The Untold Ecological Relevance of Antimicrobial Resistance as Seen in Harmful Algal Blooms.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Tracking epidemic viruses in wastewaters.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Review
- Article
- Utilising a livestock model for wildlife health planning.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Online information-seeking behavior of Iranian web users on Google about Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP): an infodemiology study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Global, regional, and national epidemiological trends in neural tube defects between 1990 and 2019: a summary.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2023Review
- Decolonizing Epidemiological Research: A Critical Perspective.Avicenna journal of medicine · 2023Review
- An in-depth analysis of 10 epidemiological terminologies used in the context of COVID-19.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2022Article
- Methodology for clinical research.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2022Review
- Response to comment on: Incidence of ocular and systemic disease affecting visual function among state bus drivers.Indian journal of ophthalmology · 2022Article
- Trends in Population-Based Studies: Molecular and Digital Epidemiology (Review).Sovremennye tekhnologii v meditsine · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextEpidemiology is a discipline which has evolved with the changes taking place in society and the emergence of new diseases and new discipline related to epidemiology. With these evolutions, it is important to understand epidemiology and to analyse the evolution of content of definitions of epidemiology.
objectivesThe main objective of this paper was to identify new definitions of epidemiology available since 1978. Secondary objectives were to analyse the content of these definitions, to compare them with those used by Lilienfeld and to determine whether changes have taken place over the last forty years.
methodsA review of grey literature and published literature was conducted to find the definitions of epidemiology written between 1978 and 2017.
results102 definitions of epidemiology were retained. They helped to highlight 20 terms and concepts related to epidemiology. Most of them were already used in the definitions used by Lilienfeld. Five terms were present in more than 50% of definitions from the period 1978 to 2017: "population", "study", "disease", "health" and "distribution". Several developments have occurred: strengthening of the terms "control" and "health" already used, the concept of "disease" was less frequently encountered whereas the concepts "infectious diseases", "mass phenomenon" are no longer used in definitions from 1978 to 2017.
conclusionThis evolution of content of definition of epidemiology is absent from books on epidemiology. A thematic analysis of definitions of epidemiology could be conducted in order to improve our understanding of changes observed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.