Epidemiological Principles and the Issue of Teen Pregnancy - Personal Statement Example

 Epidemiological Principles and the Issue of Teen Pregnancy How Epidemiological Principles are applied to the Issue of Teen Pregnancy To determine the causal effects of anything it is imperative to apply a logical scientific method. Without use of such principles the contributing factors, results, frequency and possible solutions can never be proven, only surmised. In medicine the traditionally accepted means to accomplish this was through the branch of science of epidemiology. Although once reserved strictly for disease investigation and control within the Public Health sector, it came to be seen that applying these same principles to less traditional public health issues would allow us to tackle these issues in a scientific, logical manner. Teen Pregnancy is one such issue that has benefited from application of the epidemiological methods of investigation. In order to identify how these principles are applied to this serious issue, it is important to first understand exactly what epidemiology is and how an epidemiological investigation is accomplished. The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines epidemiology as “the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems” (2004, 1). As seen by this definition not only is the breadth of the problem examined but causes and effects are discovered and corrective actions are taken to reduce or eliminate the problem. Delving more deeply into several of the key words of this definition will allow us to understand how epidemiological principles are being applied to the problem of teenage pregnancy. Epidemiology is first a study. This implies that is scientific in nature based on empirical evidence and statistics collected using strict methodologies that can be replicated, thereby, validated by other scientists. Without this data, the existence and/or extent of a problem can not be determined. Applying these epidemiological principles to the study of teen pregnancy is no different. On a national level, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) compiles data at a federal level on such things as the number of life births yearly. This data is collected and distributed via the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) which compiles the data of all births in the United States from the birth records provided by all hospitals. This legally mandated reporting system provides accurate data on the number of teens giving birth as well as specific demographic details such as race, legal residence, age, and number of previous births (Martin et.al. 2006). From this data changes, distribution patterns and trends over time can be monitored and areas for future research and causal relationships can be researched further. Additionally, based upon this ongoing monitoring, programs put into place to reduce or eliminate teen-age pregnancy can be evaluated for effectiveness. This is only possible through this accurate data collection and just as importantly the publishing of results which allows for researchers to evaluate and further investigate this serious issue. The next area that shows the epidemiological principals are applied to the teen pregnancy problem can be found in the anonymity of data collection and studies performed. Epidemiology focuses on groups of people as opposed to individual cases. All the government agencies previously discussed as well as private agencies that present statistical data on teen pregnancy deal with teen pregnancy in terms of numbers, percentages and other statistics, which are further broken down into various categories such as race of mother, age, economic background, educational level, number of pregnancies and many other categories as opposed to individual case studies. Based on this ongoing data, researcher further apply principles of epidemiology by analyzing the data and through the scientific method make hypotheses based upon the data as to causal affects and contributing factors that increase the risk of teen pregnancy. Also based on the data researchers can ascertain life changing consequences teen mothers face. These facts are determined by applying the epidemiological principle of studies performed by researchers. There are according to the CDC two main types of studies observational and experimental. In the case of teen pregnancy various types of studies are conducted to evaluate relationships between teen pregnancy and various factors which contribute to it. Additionally, studies are conducted to evaluate the effect of teen age mothers. There are many organizations which conduct these studies. The important thing to consider when evaluating how epidemiological principles are applied is to evaluate the methods and controls of the individual studies. Results of any study are only as accurate as methods employed and the correct analysis of the data collected from the study. Again, apply proper epidemiological principles ensures that findings are based on solid scientific methodology not merely supposition. Understanding the underlying causes which elevate the risk for teen age pregnancy; organizations implement programs, educational campaigns, outreach programs, counseling and other activities to help decrease the instances of teen pregnancies. These efforts are, in effect, the same as field epidemiology, which is “the application of epidemiology to control and prevent health problems” (CDC, 1). In both cases, there is on site activity directed towards eliminating the cause of the problem. For example, the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN, 2005) has put in place various school based teen pregnancy prevention programs and offer training for school personnel on implementing various prevention programs based on research findings. With all epidemiological based research, the data is available so effectiveness of these programs can be monitored, further hypotheses can be made, additional studies can be conducted and once again data can be evaluated. As demonstrated throughout this paper it has been shown that epidemiological principles are used is dealing with the problems of teen pregnancy. Further evidence of its use is the effectiveness in reducing the frequency of teen pregnancy. Without the use of these scientific methods and principles to identify risk factors and contributing circumstances that increase the risk for teens the number of teen pregnancies would not be consistently declining. Used in an organized cyclic manner, causes and ultimately effective preventative methods will be fine tuned to reduce the problem more fully. References Center for Disease Control (CDC) EXCITE National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 17 November 2004. An introduction to epidemiology. 22 April 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/excite/classroom/intro_epi.htm Martin, J. A. et.al. (29 September 2006). Births: Final data for 2004. National Vital Statistics Report, 55(1). 22 April 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 20 December 2006. Teen births. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control Website. 22 April 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/teenbrth.htm National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN). 2005. Teen pregnancy prevention.. 22 April 2007. http://www.neahealthinfo.org/programs/reproductive/teenpreg.htm Read More