Unit Code: DNT739

Unit Name: Biostatistics and Applied Epidemiology

Description: This course is divided into Component A and Component B. Component A This course aims to give the student an understanding of the epidemiological principles, their application and oral health trends in Fiji and globally. Definitions, epidemiological approach and uses are introduced to link biostatistics to epidemiology. The purpose of taking epidemiological measurements by understanding epidemiological triangle, risk factors, causality and various study types are covered. Epidemiology of major oral diseases is also covered. Studies that measure and describe distribution of oral diseases or oral health-related states/phenomena will explore students’ ability to distinguish different data types, report data values in frequency distributions, graphical forms and various measures of central and spread of distributions. The understanding of the rules and application of probability, concept of normal distribution, and use of confidence intervals in estimating population mean are also covered. Application of biostatistics principles in dentistry will be emphasized whenever possible. Component B This course introduces free electronic resources that can be useful when planning and implementing public health projects in resource-poor settings apart from just using Epi-Info software. The primary resource emphasized in this course is Epi-Info, a database and statistical analysis software program created by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). You will learn how to use Epi-Info™ for calculating sample size for a research study using built –in StatCalc program, entering research data, and for performing basic to advanced analysis on a dataset.

Learning Target Outcomes: On successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Describe and calculate measures of central tendencies, dispersion and normal distribution 2. Desribe and calculate probability and sampling distribution of events 3. Describe and calculate power of study and sample size determination 4. Define and discuss roles of epidemiology in public health and modern concept of epidemiology 5. Describe various epidemiological approach (event and questions) and uses of epidemiology. 6. Describe epidemiological triangle, models of disease risk and causation 7. Discuss and apply knowledge of epidemiology of oral diseases in Fiji, Pacific Islands and Global: Dental Caries, Periodontal Disease and Oral Cancer/Trauma 8. Discuss and apply knowledge of screening oral disease 9. Create an electronic survey questionnaire on VIEW 10. Demonstrate the use of CHECK CODE and to enter data 11. Demonstrate ability to use STATCAL feature in Epi-InfoTM as the tool for calculating sample size 12. Demonstrate ability to carry out basic data analysis using Epi-Info’s basic statistical tools

Prerequisite: Pass in BOH 2

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 1,2