BMB833: Epidemiological methods in biomedicine

Study Board of Science

Teaching language: Danish, but English if international students are enrolled
EKA: N210039102
Assessment: Second examiner: None
Grading: Pass/Fail
Offered in: Odense
Offered in: Spring
Level: Master

STADS ID (UVA): N210039101
ECTS value: 5

Date of Approval: 12-10-2022


Duration: 1 semester

Version: Archive

Entry requirements

None

Academic preconditions

Students taking the course are expected to:Have knowledge of mathematics, basic statistics and genetics, and be able to take part in group work and discussions.

Course introduction

The purpose of this course is to give an introduction to epidemiology, which is part of the quantitative research method that is used in research within biomedicine and health science. 

Epidemiology is about the occurrence of diseases and health conditions in populations of humans and the study of associations. Thus, epidemiology includes, among other things, subjects like study designs including population-based and clinical studies, collection of data (for instance, register-based data, questionnaire data, and biological material), statistical analysis, and interpretation of results. For example, the association between biological parameters (like genetic variations) and diseases/health conditions is often investigated in epidemiological studies where biological material is included.

Through this course the student should gain insight into basic epidemiological terms and know the principles of formation and testing of scientific hypotheses. The student must be able to evaluate the use of these terms and methods both in the literature and in practice and to assess the results with the purpose of being able to understand clinical and health science articles and relate to these in a constructively critical manner.

The course is a basic course in epidemiology, and gives an academic basis for studying epidemiological problems in individual projects or in the master thesis, that are part of the degree.

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to:
  1. Give knowledge of data analysis and biostatistical methods, in relation to epidemiology 
  2. Give knowledge to understand and scientifically reflect upon computational biomedicine and be able to identify scientific problems within the field 
  3. Give knowledge to understand that the approach to key topics and methods within the field remains the same across international borders.
  4. Present the current knowledge on a number of challenges in bioinformatics and discuss the limits of this knowledge
  5. Be able to communicate scientific knowledge and discuss scientific problems with colleagues, collaborators and users

Expected learning outcome

The learning objectives of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:

  • Account
    for study designs, measures of frequency, measures of association and sources of error, within epidemiology.
  • Choose and calculate relevant epidemiological measures 
  • Interpret
    measures of frequency and association, and the results of associated statistical tests, and evaluate and discuss the
    importance of sources of error in biomedical and health science studies.
  • Perform
    critical evaluation of hypotheses, study designs and approaches with
    regards to aim and results in studies within biomedicine and health
    science.
  • Account for, interpret and critically evaluate the above points (a.-d.) within the framework of genetic epidemiology.
  • Give written and oral presentations.

Content

The following main topics are contained in the course:

  • Epidemiological study designs and hierarchy of evidence.
  • Epidemiological measures: measures of frequency and association.
  • Sources of error in epidemiological studies: validity and bias, including confounding and effect modification.
  • Basic statistic within epidemiology. 
  • Terms of relevance for clinical epidemiology, including sensitivity and specificity.
  • Terms of relevance for genetic epidemiology, including power calculations and multiple testing.

Literature

See itslearning for syllabus lists and additional literature references.

Examination regulations

Exam element a)

Timing

June

Tests

Written exam

EKA

N210039102

Assessment

Second examiner: None

Grading

Pass/Fail

Identification

Student Identification Card

Language

Normally, the same as teaching language

Duration

3 hours

Examination aids

All common aids are allowed e.g. books, notes, computer programmes which do not use internet etc. 

Internet is not allowed during the exam. However, you may visit the course site in itslearning to open system "DE-Digital Exam". If you wish to use course materials from itslearning, you must download the materials to your computer the day before the exam. During the exam you cannot be sure that all course materials is accessible in itslearning.    

ECTS value

5

Additional information

Written exam consists of a written essay assignment.
The re-exam will be changed to an oral exam when there are 9 or fewer participants. The oral re-exam will be with aids but without preparation and will last 30 minutes including grading.

Indicative number of lessons

40 hours per semester

Teaching Method

At the faculty of science, teaching is organized after the three-phase model ie. intro, training and study phase.

  • Intro: 10 lessons
  • Training: 30 lessons, incl. 30 tutorials

The tutorials will consist of assignment work and discussion in relation
to the subjects of the course. Additionally, the tutorials will include
group and project work on specific assignments/cases and/or scientific articles. It
is expected that the students participate actively in these activities.
Also, oral presentations are expected to be part of the tutorials.

Activities during the study phase:

  • Read assigned literature prior to the tutorials.
  • Solve assignments prior to the tutorials.
  • Subsequent follow-up on subjects and assignments covered during the tutorials.
  • Repetition of the course content prior to exam.

Teacher responsible

Name E-mail Department
Marianne Nygaard mnygaard@health.sdu.dk Epidemiologi, Biostatistik og Biodemografi (EBB)

Timetable

Administrative Unit

Biokemi og Molekylær Biologi

Team at Educational Law & Registration

NAT

Offered in

Odense

Recommended course of study

Transition rules

Transitional arrangements describe how a course replaces another course when changes are made to the course of study. 
If a transitional arrangement has been made for a course, it will be stated in the list. 
See transitional arrangements for all courses at the Faculty of Science.