AIMS This paper presents examples to illustrate the utility and limitations in the use of epidemiology in alcohol research and discusses some promising new directions. METHODS Review of literature, concentrating on epidemiological alcohol research with relevance to public health. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION Epidemiology offers tools for assessment of causes and effects of alcohol consumption as...

The ecologic study design is routinely used by epidemiologists in spite of its limitations. It is presently unknown how well the challenges of the design are dealt with in epidemiologic research. The purpose of this bibliometric review was to critically evaluate the characteristics, statistical methods, and reporting of results of modern cross-sectional ecologic papers. A search through 6 major...

Wenwu Yin and co-workers conducted a systematic review on challenges and needs to eliminate rabies in China (Yin et al., 2013 in this journal). Their analysis shows that there is considerable overrepresentation of laboratory and basic epidemiology research. On the other hand, information on effective control activities and policies are nearly absent. Currently we know enough to control and elim...

Prior epidemiologic research revealing cardioprotective effects of alcohol intake has systematically neglected lifetime exposure to alcohol, which may cause serious bias in conclusions regarding drinking and heart disease risk. Departing from use of an earlier interview schedule, the authors of the present 1996-2001 cohort study developed a self-administered Lifetime Drinking History questionna...

BACKGROUND A cancer registry program has been established in East Azerbaijan and this has emphasized the importance of cancers of gastrointestinal tract in this region. The aim of the present pathology-based cancer registry report is to renew epidemiologic aspects of gastrointestinal tract cancers and estimate recent trends. MATERIALS AND METHODS A survey team reviewed and collected all recor...

BACKGROUND Although previous studies showed some benefits from dairy consumption with respect to obesity and insulin resistance syndrome, epidemiologic data on the association between dairy intakes and metabolic syndrome are sparse. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the relation between dairy consumption and metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults. DESIGN Dairy consumption and features...

BACKGROUND As children comprise a considerable proportion of our population, the importance of local epidemiologic research and geographic and racial differences can't be disputed on childhood malignancies. METHODS In this descriptive retrospective study, we extensively reviewed the medical records of patients younger than 15 years of age, diagnosed with solid malignant tumors, from 1996 to 2...

The development of new methods and approaches to dietary assessment has not kept pace with advances in related disciplines. One of the main gaps is the lack of innovation in incorporating cognitive psychology and computer game technology in developing useful, less biased tools for epidemiologic research on diet and disease. Another problem is the general lack of validation studies imbedded with...

The proportion of older people in the world population is expected to increase rapidly during the upcoming decades. Consequently, the number of patients with multimorbidity will increase dramatically. In epidemiologic research, the concepts of multimorbidity, comorbidity, and complications have been confusing, and some of these concepts are used interchangeably. In this commentary, the authors ...

BACKGROUND Several social indicators have been used in epidemiological research to describe socioeconomic position (SEP) of people in societies. Among SEP indicators, those more frequently used are education, occupational class and income. Differences in the incidence of several health outcomes have been reported consistently, independently from the indicator employed. Main objectives of the st...