Assignment Example on Epidemiological Study Conducted in Hillsborough

Assignment Description

This assignment entailed a journal on an epidemiological study conducted in Hillsborough, county number 33510. It is a county in the United States, specifically Florida that is part of the statistical area Clearwater Metropolitan, Tampa; St. Petersburg. The article reviewed to facilitate analysis of the epidemiological study done in this paper was the work of Tinker et al., (2010).

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Question 1

Reasonably, what prompted the study was the fact that the quality of water from available sources mainly the treated groundwater was associated with resulting in gastrointestinal illness that was endemic.

Question 2

The objective of the study was to determine how vulnerability to waterborne diseases that were endemic was facilitated by the efficacy of treatment, the quality of water from sources and systems of distribution as well as estimate the possible risk of groundwater that was treated resulting in gastrointestinal illness after consumption (Tinker et al., 2010).

Question 3

The study was a form of experimental research whereby examination of different sources of water including; treatment plant water effluent that was put in bottles after ozonation, osmosis and intake of water from the taps and treated water that was in containers after being collected from the effluent of a treatment plant was done. In this case, the different families that drank the water had to record their health information and outline the possible disease symptoms that they were experiencing after every two weeks in 12 months(Tinker et al., 2010).The report was recorded in their diaries of healthcare after the individuals had given the necessary data. Additionally, samples of water from the different sources were collected and tested to find out whether specific microorganisms were present as well as the residue of chlorine present.

Question 4

The research study employed the retrospective design of the study. In this case, the researchers collected data concerning the population health after they drank the different forms of water. Collection of the data to be utilized in the study was before the specific treatment was applied to treat those who were found to be affected. Therefore, the design of the survey used in the research helped to expose the risks associated with waterborne illness. In most cases, the research study has specific anticipated outcomes which tend to influence the study results.

Arguably, I tend to think that the researchers used the design study utilized in the research due to how it consumes less time compared to other study designs. Furthermore, the retrospective study design is more comfortable to conduct and makes the work of researchers quite easier. Moreover, the model is not expensive since few resources are required and data collection easily takes place. Most importantly, the design of study helps to make the analysis of multiple outcomes.

Question 5

The researchers used different sources of epidemiological data. Initially, they had to estimate the specific population living in the area using the 2000 census report. As a result, this helped to assess the particular number of people whom the researchers expected to find in the area. Additionally, the researchers used randomized household data to determine the quality of groundwater that was being distributed by the system (Tinker et al., 2010). Assessment of the water quality was done using three different groups of study.

References

Tinker, S. C., Moe, C. L., Klein, M., Flanders, W. D., Uber, J., Amirtharajah, A.,& Tolbert, P. E. (2010). Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in Atlanta, 1993-2004. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 20(1), 19.