Describing Epidemiologic Data

Abstract

Descriptive epidemiology is a systematic organization of reliable data to sharpen understanding of health problems. It addresses the five questions of what (the health condition), how much (counts, rates, and averages), when (time), where (place), and among whom (person). The field epidemiologist organizes these data into tables, graphs, maps, charts, and other displays to reveal patterns of a health problem by these five questions.