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:

Prerequisite: Passed all Level 6 courses in Year 2

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 1,2