340.616.01 EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AGING

Addresses the rapidly increasing need for specialized knowledge among epidemiologists in order to effectively promote the health of the aging society in the US (in 2020, 20% of the US population will be 65 or older). Introduces the epidemiology of aging and age-related disorders, including overviews of the public health impact of an aging society and the demographics and biology of aging. Covers the descriptive and analytic epidemiology of prevalent chronic conditions in the aged, methodologic challenges essential to consider in research on older adults, and strategies for prevention of age-related disorders.

1. Recognize the public health import of an aging population, and the constellation of changes associated with aging that make health issues for older persons important or unique. 2. Discuss the impact of clinically-manifested and subclinical disease, and comorbidity as risk factors for major adverse outcomes in older adults. 3. Describe the epidemiology of major geriatric syndromes, including physical disability, frailty, falls, and cognitive decline in older adults. 4. Discuss opportunities for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in the context of the marked health status heterogeneity of older adults. 5. Integrate general epidemiologic methods and specific gerontology knowledge vis-à-vis the design and evaluation of epidemiologic studies of older adults 6. Identify major epidemiologic, population-based studies of older adults