Title: Descriptive research in epidemiology: we need to do it better!
Abstract: We spend a lot of time doing etiological research and designing methods for estimating causal effects. Of course, this is a crucial part of epidemiology, but we don’t do so much descriptive research, other than as a preparatory step in etiological analysis. Research with primarily descriptive aims is also difficult and needs good research questions, data, and methods. The results are often intrinsically interesting and can be very high impact. They can help you understand the health needs of populations and inequalities in health outcomes. I’ll give an example of descriptive research showing an “epidemiological transition” among people who use heroin in the UK, in which health needs of this group have shifted from infections towards long term conditions, while services for this group have not reflected this transition. I’ll also discuss the need for more descriptive research in Bradford and ask for your help with this.
Biography: I am an epidemiologist and public health specialist who tries to evaluate public health interventions using routine administrative data. I am learning about methods that can help do this, and as I learn about these methods, I continually discover that my previous research was wrong. Most of my work has focused on mental health and particularly problems with drugs and alcohol. I am especially interested in how we might give better support to the cohort of people who started using heroin and crack cocaine in the 1990s. I did my public health training and PhD in London, and now work at Bradford Institute for Health Research, where I am working with data from Born in Bradford to understand the mental health of young people.
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