EPI 201. Assignment No.

Name: Lester B. Abad Score: _____________

Student No. 2018-30053

1. What disease was studied?

The disease studied in the article was Community-Aquired Pneumonia (CAP).

CAP is one of the most common infectious disease that causes hospitalization
among adults world wide (Baer, 2018). Cause of the disease may be bacterial,
viral or even fungal.

2. Give the determinants and distribution of disease being studied.

Determinants of disease
The study explored the patients’ clinical characteristics, bacterial, and viral
etiologies of CAP in a government hospital in Central Philippines. The study
sought to reveal the association of these risk factors in the incidence of CAP
mortality. The following were the risk factors identified during the data
gathering: history of Tuberculosis, comorbidity, lifestyle (smoking and alcohol
drinking, hospital management (use of antibiotics and corticosteroids), clinical
manifestations (signs/symptoms and vital signs), and diagnostics (x-ray).

Distribution of disease
Demographic profile of the respondents were tackled in the reseach study.
Specifically, the study focused on the distribution respondents based on sex and
age group.

3. What hypothesis was tested in the study?

The study hypothesized whether the clinical manifestations, health history,

lifestyle, hospital management, demograpic profile, bacterial, and viral etiologies
have significant association with CAP mortality.

4. What population was studied for presence of the disease?

The population studied for the presence of CAP were adults aged 14 years and
above admitted in a rural hospital (Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center) in
Central Philippines. Respondents were diagnosed with CAP based on Philippine
clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis, empiric management and prevention
of CAP. They were classified to high-risk or moderate-risk CAP based on the
clinical manifestations they exhibited during the admission.

5. How is epidemiology applied in this study?

Principles of epidemiology were applied in the study in many ways. First, it

was used to find causal factors that predispose CAP. The study revealed that most
of the CAP cases were caused by bacterial etiologies (40%), being H. influezae at
the top bill. Another application is that it completed the clinical picture of the
natural history of CAP. As an example, the study was able to tally the most
 common clinical manifestation of CAP and was able to describe the similarities
and differeces of these to previous data. The study also used principles of
surveillance by following systematic data collection, analysis and interpretation.
It was shown in dissecting whether age and sex affects the distribution of the
disease; and in determining the risk-factors that may predict respondents’ clinical
outcome. Lastly, epidemiology was employed through potential policy-making to
improve the existing treatment protocol for CAP. Since the study concluded that
CAP cases in Central Philippines mostly affects young adults and the main
etiology is bacterial, treatment and preventive measures must focus on bacterial
pneumonia in young adults. Also, the study was able to identify drowsiness and
SpO2 > 90 % as the predisposing factors that may predict CAP mortality. In liue,
policy makers may use these data in developing comprehensive referral system or
service delivvry network in managing CAP.

References:

Baer, S. L. (2018). Community-acquired pneumonia. Retrieved from

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/234240-overview