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Syllabus

Graduate Programs in Public Health

GPH 734: Obesity Epidemiology – Spring B 2024

Credits - 3

Description

Obesity Epidemiology presents current research on the burden of obesity, causes, health consequences, and strategies for prevention within the framework of epidemiology.  Students will gain familiarity with publicly available datasets and research resources as well as methods to assess body composition, dietary intake and physical activity. Students will apply critical thinking informed by course content to critically evaluate studies in obesity epidemiology. Students will also practice skills in data analysis using publicly available datasets to analyze the association of lifestyle behaviors with body weight. Stata statistical software is required for this course.

Prerequisites: GPH 712, GPH 716, and GPH 719

Materials

Required

  • Hu F. Obesity epidemiology. Oxford University Press; 2008.
  • Stata Data Analysis and Statistical Software, Stata/IC (https://www.stata.com/order/) must be purchased and downloaded to use in the first week of class. Steps to purchase:
    • Choose your country
    • Click on Student
    • Click on New Purchase
    • You will need at least a 6 month license of Stata/IC

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Outcomes

  • Discuss the burden, causes, and consequences of obesity from an epidemiologic perspective.
  • Compare methods to assess prevalence (body composition) and risk factors of obesity (diet, physical activity, and lifestyle).
  • Evaluate scientific evidence on changing trends and obesity prevention efforts.
  • Analyze publicly available population-based data to assess the relationship between obesity and selected risk factors.
  • Present findings in an appropriate format for a scientific audience.

Public Health Competencies

PC 1: Synthesize and incorporate scientific evidence into professional writing

PC 2: Search databases and critically analyze peer-reviewed literature   

PC 3: Develop strategies for  quantitative data management

FC 1: Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice

FC 2: Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context

FC 3: Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate

FC 4: Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice

FC 6: Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels

FC 18: Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors

FC 19: Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation

Assignments

Discussion Board

Each week you will be asked to respond to a prompt, and foster discussion by responding to at least one response by a classmate. This is intended to help you think more critically about the readings and lectures. Your initial response should be substantive and should be 250-500 words.  

Please post your initial post by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET. Responses should be posted by Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET. 

Quizzes

Students will complete a quiz in Week 3 focusing on Population Attributable Risk (PAR). In Week 4, students will complete a quiz focusing on Anthropometry Methods. 

BRFSS Data Analysis Assignments

In these assignments, you will be performing guided data analysis to assess the association between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) consumption and BMI, and submitting the results step-by-step in weeks 1-6. The data analysis assignments will provide practice in data cleaning, complex survey weighting, simple and multiple linear regression, creating data tables, and detailing the methods, results and conclusion of the data analysis study.

Final Project: BRFSS Data Analysis Slide and Oral Presentation

In this culminating assignment, you will submit completed and corrected data tables for your data analysis project, a slide presentation of your results, and a brief video recording presenting the results and your proposed intervention posted to YouTube. 

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Discussion Board 2 (4 pts), 3 (5 pts), 1 (6 pts), 1 (7 pts), 1 (10 pts)46 pts
BRFSS Weekly Assignments 1 (2 pts), 2 (3 pts), 1 (5 pts), 2 (10 pts)40 pts
Final Project 10 pts
Quizzes (2 @ 1 point, 1 @ 2 pts)4 pts
Total100%

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Weekly Schedule

Week 1: Mar 13 – Mar 20
Week 2: Mar 20 – Mar 27
Week 3: Mar 27 – Apr 3
Week 4: Apr 3 – Apr 10
Week 5: Apr 10 – Apr 17
Week 6: Apr 17 – Apr 24
Week 7: Apr 24 – May 1
Week 8: May 1 – May 5​

Week 1: Foundation, History, and Disease Concepts in Epidemiology

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Discuss historical developments in epidemiology
  • Apply fundamental epidemiological concepts

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Chapters 1, 2, 3
  • Seth S. The unsung players of epidemiology: A new history probes often-overlooked contributions to the study of infectious disease. Science. 2021;373(6558):972.
  • CDC Lesson One: All sections except Analytic and Descriptive Epidemiology
  • Epidemology Hall of Fame
  • John Snow: Pioneer of Epidemiology
  • Lecture Videos

Assignments:

  • Discussion: Introduce Yourself 

    • Please post an introduction to your classmates.

      • Initial Post:
        • Some basic information about you- where you live, what you do, a fun fact about yourself.
        • Identify and describe an epidemiological event or person that occurred within the past 5 years. Explain how it contributes to the field of epidemiology and how it relates to a historical epidemiological event or person included in this week’s readings and videos. Describe the event and how it influences present-day epidemiology.
      • Response Post:
        • Pick a peer’s post. What can we learn from this event for current epidemiological practice?
  • Case Study: Classifying Diseases, Epidemiological Triangle, Prevention, and Control
    • In this case study, you will apply basic epidemiological principles to classify and define the agent, person, and environment of three different health conditions. You will then identify prevention strategies for those health conditions.
  • Week 1 Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement Quiz
    •  

Week 2: Descriptive Epidemiology

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Apply key epidemiological measures to the health status of a population
  • Describe and discuss a public health issue in terms of person, place and time

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Chapters 4, 5, 6
  • CDC Lessons 2, 3 and 4
  • Age Adjusting Rates
  • Direct Age Adjustments
  • Calculating age-adjusted rates
  • Descriptive epidemiology (video)
    Getting to know health indicators (video)
    CDC health disparities and inequities report 2013 (read introduction and at least 3 sections)
  • Lecture Videos
  • Highly recommended practice activity

Assignments:

  • Case Study: Using public health descriptive data to describe a community/population
      • In this case study, you will compile descriptive epidemiological data and health indicators to create a community health assessment for a state of your choice. You will then analyze the compiled data from your assessment to identify, and justify, a priority health issues for that state’s population.
    • Week 2 Quiz

Week 3: Epidemiologic Study Designs I

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Apply concepts for cross sectional and case control studies
  • Calculate and interpret an odds ratio

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Pages 77-78; 153-162
  • Principles of Epidemiology – Analytic Epidemiology pp 1.46-1.51
  • NIH
  • Cross-Sectional Studies (video)
  • Case-Control Studies (video)
  • Epidemiological Studies – made easy (video)
  • Lecture Videos

Assignments:

  • Discussion:
    • Initial Post: Pick a health issue. You are an epidemiologist designing a cross-sectional study to learn more about the issue. List 10 questions and response choices that you would include in the survey/questionnaire. Do not include demographic questions, nor questions that only provide a yes/no response.
    • Response Post: Pick a peer’s health issue and questionnaire. Identify a cross sectional study or survey on this issue, provide the link/reference, and describe the study/survey and key findings.
  • Case Study: Case-Control Study
    • In this case study, you will define the function and application of a case control study. Then you will apply your understanding of case control studies to the analysis of an epidemiological issue. Then you will interpret the results, apply your interpretation to a proposed intervention, and then evaluate the whole process.

Week 4: Epidemiologic Study Designs II

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Apply concepts for cohort and experimental studies
  • Calculate and interpret a relative risk

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Pages 162-170, Chapter 7
  • Principles of Epidemiology – Analytic Epidemiology pp 1.46-1.51
  • NIH
  • Cohort Studies made easy (video)
  • Lecture Videos

Assignments:

  • Discussion:
    • Initial Post:

      Pick a public health issue. Describe an experimental study you would recommend related to learning more about the issue- causes, effects, prevention strategies, etc.

      Include in your post: what is the research question? What is the intervention that you are researching? Who is the population of focus? What kind of study design would you use?  How would you collect data? How would you share your findings?

    • Response Post: Pick a peer’s post. Describe the ethical considerations for the experimental study and how they should be resolved.
  • Case Study: Cohort Study
    • In this case study, you will define the function and application of a cohort study, then apply your understanding of cohort studies to the analysis of an epidemiological issue. You will then calculate various ratios with your findings.

Week 5: Causal Inference and Hypothesis Testing

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Discuss causality
  • Apply hypothesis development and testing framework
  • Recognize SAS as an epidemiological data analysis tool.

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Chapter 9
  • BU
  • Lecture Video

Assignments:

  • Assignment
    • In this course, you will compute epidemiological measures discussed in the textbook and lecture using SAS software. You will be using data from one of the original epidemiological studies known as the Framingham Heart Study. This SAS assignment is meant to introduce and provide you with an exposure to a widely used epidemiological software. Include the following in your submission: a link to the PDF of your output; a document containing a brief comment on your initial thoughts of SAS and a hypothesis you would want to test related to a public health issue of your choice.

Week 6: Field Epidemiology

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Apply steps in conducting a field investigation

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Chapter 10
  • CDC Lessons 5 and 6
  • Outbreak Investigation (video)
  • Lecture Video

Assignments:

  • Discussion:
    • Initial Post: Pick a recent outbreak reported in a CDC MMWR. Answer the following questions: How did they know it was an outbreak? How did they define cases? How would you classify the epidemic (page 210)? How did they collect data/information? How did they confirm the source of the outbreak? How factors contributed to the spread of disease?
    • Response Post: Pick a peer’s post. List 2 other public health disciplines/professions that were or should be a part of investigating and resolving the outbreak.  Describe their roles and how they all work together.
  • Assignment: Outbreak Case Study
    • In this case study, you will read a report about an outbreak. You will then analyze and evaluate the details of the epidemic response as presented in the report.

Week 7: Clinical Epidemiology

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Apply different characteristics and evaluation methods to a screening test

Readings/Videos:

  • Text: Chapter 12
  • MMWR
  • Sensitivity, Specificity, and PPV (video)
  • Lecture Video

Assignments:

  • Case Study: Screening
    • In this case study, you will create tools for screening. You will then apply those tools to calculate various values related to this specific application of epidemiological screening.

Week 8: Applications of Epidemiology

Weekly Outcomes:

  • Discuss the purpose and role of epidemiology in promoting public health

Readings/Videos:

  • APHA Health Equity
  • Rhode Island Health Equity Measures
  • The Determinants of Equity
  • Health Inequities in the Bay Area
  • Lecture video

Assignments:

  • Final Exam, due on Friday
  • Epidemiology and Health Equity Discussion
    • Review the Rhode Island Resource and other examples of health equity reports using public health data in this week’s module. You are an epidemiologist for your state or local health department and have been asked to develop a health equity report for your jurisdiction. How are you going to use public health data to describe health inequities?

      Note: Responses are not required, and will not be graded for this assignment.

Student Resources

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Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

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UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

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Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

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Student Handbook

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The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.