Progresses and prospect in epidemiology / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To review the progresses in epidemiology worldwide,and to summarize the achievements in military epidemiology in recent five years,so as to provide an orientation of development of epidemiology in the future. Methods Research articles in the field of epidemiology published were retrieved by information research method. The progress in basic theory,research methods and field application of epidemiology were summarized and the developmental tendency of the subject was analyzed. Results As a basic subject of preventive medicine,epidemiology had made rapid progress in principles and study methods in recent years,and played an important role in diseases prevention and control. The advances in epidemiology mainly encompassed three aspects. Firstly,the study field had extended from only focusing on human diseases to human health and all health-related public health events. Secondly,several branches of epidemiology developed quickly,including field epidemiology,macroepidemiology,fundamental epidemiology and human genome epidemiology. The related study methods had been used for investigating the risk factors of diseases,controlling disease epidemics,decreasing impact of health events,and evaluating the effects of intervention. Thirdly,many new methods and technologies,such as molecular biological technologies and spatial information technologies,had been applied in epidemiological researches. Military epidemiology had obtained remarkable achievements in surveillance of diseases as well as epidemiological studies and prevention of common infectious diseases,natural focus diseases,injury and mental diseases in the armed forces. Conclusions In future,infectious disease epidemiology is still the most important subject in military epidemiology. More attention should be given to noninfectious diseases,especially traumas and mental health problems of the servicemen. Also,introduction of advanced technologies and methods will be helpful for prevention and control of related diseases.