330.603.01
Psychiatric Epidemiology

Prerequisite:

330.617.01—Psychopathology for Public Health. Those with a clinical background in psychiatry, psychology, or social work are exempted from this requirement. And 340.601.01 Principles of Epidemiology; or 340.721.01 Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health; or 340.751.01 Epidemiologic Methods I; or another prior or concurrent course in epidemiology, approved by the instructor.

Description:

Reviews descriptive and analytic epidemiology for major mental disorders. Examines issues of classification and nosology of psychiatric disorders, operational case definitions and measurement techniques, prevalence and incidence rates, natural history, risk factor research and plausible explanations for credible risk factors. Considers aspects of psychiatric epidemiology that illustrate important problems and concepts in epidemiology generally.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. 1. Demonstrate knowledge of the descriptive epidemiology of the major mental disorders—prevalence, incidence, and natural history
2. 2. Discuss the most important risk factors for the major mental disorders
3. 3. Discuss gaps in knowledge, and future needs and trends in the field of psychiatric epidemiology
4. 4. Discuss in detail the most recent scientific knowledge about one or more risk factors for psychiatric disorders
5. 5. Discuss in detail the most recent scientific knowledge about two distinct psychiatric disorders
6. 6. Define methodological and conceptual issues for the general field of epidemiology that are especially well-illustrated by the content of psychiatric epidemiology

Methods of Assessment:

class participation (20%), a final take-home examination (45%), paper (35%).

Enrollment Restriction:

No undergraduates

Instructor Consent:

No consent required

Jointly Offered With:

• Epi