Department of Dermatology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
J Invest Dermatol. 2012 Mar;132(3 Pt 2):994-1002. doi: 10.1038/jid.2011.372. Epub 2011 Dec 8.
Epidemiology literally means "the study of what is upon the people." It puts the individual's condition in a population context and is the path to disease prevention. In the first part of this review, important aspects of epidemiology are discussed. Fundamentals of epidemiologic research include the measurement of occurrence of an event (prevalence and incidence) and the identification of factors that are associated with this event. The main study designs in observational studies are cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, all of which have intrinsic strengths and limitations. These limitations include a variety of biases, which can be regrouped into selection bias, information bias, and confounding. The STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist is an important tool to further improve the reporting and quality of epidemiologic studies, and it is introduced. In the second part of this review, practical examples are presented, illustrating how dermatoepidemiology has contributed to an improved understanding of skin diseases and patient care, specifically in the case of melanoma therapy, serious cutaneous adverse reactions, Lyme disease, long-term safety of psoralin plus UVA (PUVA), teratogenicity of isotretinoin, and comorbidities in psoriasis.
流行病学的字面意思是“对人群中发生的事情的研究”。它将个体的状况置于人群背景下，并为疾病预防提供了途径。在这篇综述的第一部分，讨论了流行病学的重要方面。流行病学研究的基础包括对事件（患病率和发病率）的测量以及识别与该事件相关的因素。观察性研究中的主要研究设计包括队列研究、病例对照研究和横断面研究，它们都具有内在的优势和局限性。这些局限性包括各种偏倚，可以分为选择偏倚、信息偏倚和混杂偏倚。STROBE（加强观察性研究的报告）清单是进一步提高流行病学研究报告和质量的重要工具，并对其进行了介绍。在这篇综述的第二部分，提供了实际的例子，说明了皮肤流行病学如何有助于更好地理解皮肤疾病和患者护理，特别是在黑色素瘤治疗、严重皮肤不良反应、莱姆病、补骨脂素加 UVA（PUVA）的长期安全性、异维 A 酸的致畸性和银屑病的合并症方面。
