—from Epidemiological Bulletin,
Vol. 23 No. 1, March 2002—
Introduction to Social Epidemiology
The study of social conditions and how these influence and determine
the health situation of populations has always been a subject of interest and
importance for public health in general. In recent years, a stronger tie between
epidemiology and the social sciences has been forged,(1) promoted by the need
to recognize and document the wide spectrum of health determinants, from a micro
level where individual biological factors operate, to a macro level that expresses
social conditions in which populations live. This endeavor has given birth to
so-called “social epidemiology.”
The principal concern of social epidemiology is the study of how
society and different forms of social organization influence the health and
well-being of individuals and populations. In particular, it studies the frequency,
distribution, and social determinants of the states of health in a population.
Thus, social epidemiology goes beyond the analysis of individual risk factors
to include the study of the social context in which the health-disease phenomenon
occurs.(2)
In order to explain the path between exposure to social characteristics
of the environment and its effects on public health, social epidemiology enriches
the traditional epidemiological approach with concepts and techniques from social
disciplines such as economics, sociology and demography ,as well as biology.
This fusion of techniques from different fields creates a methodological challenge.
Examples of development in this field include the growing use of methods of
multi-level analysis in ecological design, control of the ecological fallacy
and the use of new applications of already known tools and techniques.
A constant and current concern in the global sanitary landscape
is the presence of inequalities — particularly social inequalities — in health.
Social epidemiology makes it possible to incorporate the social experience of
populations in the traditional etiological approach to public health and, as
a result, permits a better understanding of how, where and why inequalities
affect health. In this regard, social epidemiology can contribute significantly
to the health management process and the reduction of inequities in health.
As an introduction to this branch of epidemiology, we provide
the readers of the Epidemiological Bulletin with an overview of its vocabulary,
taking advantage of the Glossary of Social Epidemiology
prepared by Dr. Nancy Krieger of the Harvard University School of Public Health.
This glossary was recently published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health, which kindly authorized its translation and reproduction in the
Bulletin. It will be published in two parts. The second part will be
included in the June 2002 issue of the Bulletin.
Return to Index
Epidemiological Bulletin, Vol. 23 No. 1, March
2002
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