Measures of Disease Frequency in Hospitals
Name
Institution
Statistics 500
Professor
Abstract
Suba county in Uganda is the study focus area. It has an ingenious population fit for health and medical research owing to its diversified age groups, culture, education levels and civilisation. Suba has 4 sub counties. Level 5 hospitals were key to establishing frequency of diseases (malaria, TB, HIV & AIDS) in the population. The study was invoked by previous researchers who have recorded measures of frequency (prevalence and incidence rates) of disease associated factors. The study shall compare prevalence and incidence rates in four hospitals in Suba and find out if there is any significant difference between them. Data was analysed in excel software.
Keywords: prevalence, incidence, disease burden, significant difference
Measures of Disease Frequency in Hospitals
The study of disease existence and its causative agents is the main focus of epidemiologists (saha et al., 2008). Occurrence or frequency of disease among sections of the population is a dynamic process. Subgroups of the population keep changing and so do prevalence and incidence rates of diseases. However, it is this dynamism that enables researchers to identify possible causes and factors that accelerate a disease. Possible curative and preventive measures can be invented.
This study intends to investigate the prevalence and incidence of some select diseases in Suba County hospitals. The investigation will help answer the question of whether the prevalence and incidence rates are the same throughout the study area or not. Prevalence is the real or actual status of a disease in the population of interest. It may be thought as the section of the population that has already been infected by a disease. It is usually calculated as a fraction of the infected persons to the population. Incidence refers to the number of new infections of a disease in a certain time period (Noordzij et., al 2013).
Objectives
i. To investigate the prevalence rate of select diseases in Suba County
ii. To investigate the incidence rates of some diseases in Suba County
iii. To investigate whether there is a significant difference between the prevalence and incidence rates in Suba County
Research questions
i. What is the prevalence rate of some diseases in Suba County?
ii. What is the incidence rate of some diseases in Suba County?
iii. Is there a significant difference between prevalence and incidence rates in Suba County?
