Keywords
epistemology and methodology of epidemiology
sociocultural epidemiology
How to Cite
Abstract
This is a review paper aimed at discussing some methodological flaws in modern epidemiology, particularly those relevant to observational studies. Our purpose is to briefly point out what would be the contributions from an epidemiology with sociocultural roots, meaning by this the need to link biological facts to social, ecological and cultural elements, always from a perspective that alludes to a necessary expansion of epistemological and methodological aspects of modern epidemiology. To this end, in this paper we review some of the conceptual and methodological foundations of modern epidemiology pointing out limitations and scopes that have been suggested both within the discipline and from the social sciences. The term "modern epidemiology" will be used interchangeably with "traditional epidemiology", because what primarily matters is addressing the concepts and methods used in epidemiology from the 20th century.
References
Almeida Filho, Naomar. 2001. For a General Theory of Health: Preliminary Epistemological and Anthropological Notes. Cadernos de Saúde Pública 17 (4): 753–799.
Barreto, Mauricio L. 2005. Epidemiologists and Causation in an Intricate World. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology (doi:10.1186/1742–7622–2–3). http://www.ete-online.com/content/2/1/3. (15 de diciembre de 2007).
Berkman, Lisa e Ichiro Kawachi. 2000. A Historical Framework for Social Epidemiology. En Social Epidemiology, editado por ídem, 1–12. Oxford University Press.
Blakely, Tony A. y Alistair J. Woodward. 2000. Ecological Effects in Multi–Level Studies. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (54): 367–3 74.
Charlton, Bruce G. 1996. Should Epidemiologists Be Pragmatists, Biostatisticians, or Clinical Scientists? Epidemiology 7 (5): 552–554.
Chmura–Kramer, Elena, Eric Stice, Alan Kazdin, David Offord y David Kupfer. 2001. How Do Risk Factors Work Together? Mediators, Moderators, and Independent, Overlapping, and Proxy Risk Factors. American Journal of Psychiatry (158): 848–856.
Diez Roux, Ana V. 2004.The Study of Group–Level Factors in Epidemiology: Rethinking Variables, Study Designs, and Analytical Approaches. Epidemiologic Reviews (26): 104– 111.
––––––––––. 2003. The Examination of Neighborhood Effects on Health: Conceptual and Methodological Issues Related to the Presence of Multiple Levels of Organization. En Neighborhoods and Health, editado por Ichiro Kawachi y Lisa F. Berkman, 45–64. Oxford University Press.
––––––––––. 2000. Multilevel Analysis in Public Health Research. Annual Review of Public Health (21): 171–192.
DiGiacomo, Susan M. 1999. Can There Be a Cultural Epidemiology? Medical Anthropology Quarterly 13 (4): 436–457.
Franzosi, Roberto. 1996. A Sociologist Meets History: Critical Reflections upon Practice. Journal of Historical Sociology 9 (3): 354–392.
González González, Norma. 2000. Epidemiología y salud pública frente al proyecto neoliberal en México. Papeles de Población (25): 207–225.
Greenland, Sander. 2005. Epidemiologic Measures and Policy Formulation: Lessons from Potential Outcomes. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology (doi: 10.1186/1742–7622–2–5). http://www.ete-online.com/content/2/1/3/5 (15 de diciembre de 2007).
––––––––––, Judea Pearl y James M. Robins 1999. Causal Diagrams for Epidemiologic Research. Epidemiology 10 (1): 37–48.
Haro, Jesús Armando, Paul Hersch y Eduardo L. Menéndez. 2006. Programa del Seminario Taller El planteamiento de una epidemiología sociocultural. Un diálogo en torno a su sentido, métodos y alcances. http://www.portalescolson.com/boletines/195/ (8 de enero de 2008).
Höfler, Michael. 2005. The Bradford Hill Considerations on Causality: A Counterfactual Perspective. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology (doi: 10.1186/1742–7622–2–11). http://www.ete-online.com/content/2/1/11 (15 de diciembre de 2007).
Honjo, Kaori. 2004. Social Epidemiology: Definition, History, and Research Examples. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 9 (5): 193–199.
Ibacache Burgos, Jaime y Alejandra Leighton Naranjo. 2004. Perfil epidemiológico de los pueblos indígenas. http://www.ministeriodesalud.go.cr/ops/documentos/docPerfilEpidemilogico.pdf (18 de febrero de 2008).
Inhorn, Marcia C. 2005. Medical Anthropology and Epidemiology: Divergences or Convergences? Social Science and Medicine 40 (3): 285–290.
Kaplan, George. 2004. What's Wrong with Social Epidemiology and How Can We Make It Better? Epidemiologic Reviews 26 (1): 124–135.
––––––––––. 1996. People and Places: Contrasting Perspectives on the Association between Social Class and Health. International Journal of Health Services 26 (3): 507–519.
Krieger, Nancy. 2001a. Theories for Social Epidemiology in the 21st Century: An Ecosocial Perspective. Int J Epidemiol 30 (4): 668–677.
––––––––––. 2001b. A Glossary for Social Epidemiology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 55 (10): 693–700.
––––––––––. 2001c. The Ostrich, the Albatross, and Public Health: An Ecosocial Perspective–Or Why an Explicit Focus on Health Consequences of Discrimination and Deprivation Is Vital for Good Science and Public Health Practice. Public Health Reports 116 (5): 419–423.
––––––––––. 1994. Epidemiology and the Web of Causation: Has Anyone Seen the Spider? Social Science and Medicine 39 (7): 807–903.
–––––––––– y Sally Zierler. 1996. What Explains the Public's Health? A Call for Epidemiologic Theory. Epidemiology 7 (1): 107–109.
Kunitz, Stephen J. 2002. Holism and the Idea of General Susceptibility to Disease. International Journal of Epidemiology 31 (4): 722–729.
Lawlor, Debbie A. 2007. Quality in Epidemiological Research: Should We Be Submitting Papers before We Have the Results and Submitting More Hypothesis–Generating Research? International Journal of Epidemiology 36 (5): 940–943.
Little, Roderick J. y Donald B. Rubin . 2000. Causal Effects in Clinical and Epidemiological Studies via Potential Outcomes: Concepts and Analytical Approaches. Annual Review of Public Health 21: 121–145.
Lynch, John, George D. Smith, Sam Harper, Marianne Hillemeier, Nancy Ross, George Kaplan y Michael Wolfson. 2004. Is Income Inequality a Determinant of Population Health? Part 1. A Systematic Review. The Milbank Quarterly 82 (1): 5–99.
–––––––––– y George D. Smith . 2005. A Life Course Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Annual Review of Public Health 26: 1–35.
MacIntyre, Sally, S. MacIver y A. Sooman. 1993. Area, Class and Health: Should We Be Focusing on Places or People? Journal of Social Policy 22 (2): 213–234.
Materia, Enrico y Giovanni Baglio. 2005. Health, Science, and Complexity. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59: 534–535.
McMichael, A. J. 1999. Prisoners of the Proximate: Loosening the Constraints on Epidemiology in an Age of Change. American Journal of Epidemiology 149 (10): 887–896.
Michels, Karin B. 2006. The Women's Health Initiative–Curse or Blessing. Int J Epidemiol 35 (4): 814–816.
Nichter, Mark. 2006. Reducción del daño: una preocupación central para la antropología médica. Desacatos 20: 109–132.
Oakes, Michael J. y Jay S. Kaufman. 2006. Introduction: Advancing Methods in Social Epidemiology. En Methods in Social Epidemiology, editado por ídem, 3–17. John Wiley & Sons.
Oakes, Michael J. y Peter H. Rossi 2003.The Measurement of ses in Health Research: Current Practice and Steps toward a New Approach. Social Science and Medicine 56 (4): 769–784.
Organización Mundial de la Salud, 2005. Comisión sobre Determinantes Sociales en Salud. http://www.who.int/social_determinants/strategy/QandAs/es/index.html. (10 de febrero de 2008).
Parascandola, Mark y Douglas L. Weed . 2001. Causation in Epidemiology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 55 (12): 905–912.
Pearce, Neil. 2008. Corporate Influences on Epidemiology. International Journal of Epidemiology 37 (1): 46–53.
––––––––––. 2007. Commentary: The Rise and Rise of Corporate Epidemiology and the Narrowing of Epidemiology's Vision. International Journal of Epidemiology 36 (4): 713–716.
––––––––––. 1996. Traditional Epidemiology, Modern Epidemiology, and Public Health. American Journal of Public Health 86: 678–683.
Pearl, Judea. 1995. Causal Diagrams for Empirical Research. Biometrika 82: 669–710.
Poole, C. y Kenneth J. Rothman. 1990. Epidemiologic Science and Public Health Policy. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 43: 1270–1271.
Raudenbush, Stephen W. y Anthony S. Bryk. 2002. Introduction to Hierarchical Linear Models. En Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. En ídem, 3–15. Newbury Park: Sage.
Rockhill, Beverly. 2005. Theorizing about Causes at the Individual Level while Estimating Effects at the Population Level. Implications for Prevention. Epidemiology 16 (1): 124–129.
Rothman, Kenneth J. 2007. The Rise and Fall of Epidemiology, 1950–2000 A.D (Reimpreso). International Journal of Epidemiology 36: 708–710.
––––––––––, Hans–Olov Adami y Dimitrios Trichopoulos. 1998. Should the Mission of Epidemiology Include the Eradication of Poverty? Lancet 352: 810–813.
Samaja, Juan. 2003. Desafíos a la epidemiología (pasos para una epidemiología "miltoniana"). Revista Brasileira de Epidemiología 6 (2): 105–120.
Sarria Castro, Madeleine y Luis C. Silva Aycaguer. 2004. Las pruebas de significación estadística en tres revistas biomédicas: una revisión crítica. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública 15: 300–306.
Savitz, David A. 1994. In Defense of Black Box Epidemiology. Epidemiology 5 (5): 550–552.
––––––––––, C. Poole y W C. Miller. 1999. Reassessing the Role of Epidemiology in Public Health. American Journal of Public Health 89 (8): 1158–1161.
Schlesselman, James J. 1996. Biostatistics in Epidemiology: A View from the Faultline. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 49 (6): 627–629.
Segura del Pozo, Javier. 2006. Epidemiología de campo y epidemiología social. Gaceta Sanitaria 20 (2): 153–158.
Shy Carl M. 1997. The Failure of Academic Epidemiology: Witness for the Prosecution. American Journal of Epidemiology 145 (6): 479–484.
Silva Aycager, Luis C. 2005. Una ceremonia estadística para identificar factores de riesgo. Salud Colectiva 1 (3): 309–322.
Skrabanek, Petr. 1994. The Emptiness of the Black Box. Epidemiology 5 (5): 553–555.
––––––––––. 1993. Commentary: The Epidemiology of Errors. (Errors in Risk–Factor Epidemiology). Lancet 342: 1502 (1).
Smith, George D. 2001. Reflections on the Limitations to Epidemiology. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 54: 325–531.
–––––––––– y Andrew N. Phillips. 1992. Confounding in Epidemiological Studies: Why "Independent" Effects May Not Be All They Seem. British Medical Journal 305: 757–359.
Sterne, Jonathan A.C. y George D. Smith. 2001. Sifting the Evidence–What's Wrong with Significance Tests? British Medical Journal 322: 226–231.
Subramanian, S.V., Kelvyn Jones y Craig Duncan . 2003. Multilevel Methods for Public Health Research. En Neighborhoods and Health, editado por Ichiro Kawachi y Lisa F. Berkman, 65–111. Oxford University Press.
Susser, Ezra. 2004. Eco–Epidemiology: Thinking outside of the Black Box. Epidemiology 15 (5): 519–520.
Susser, Mervyn y Ezra Susser. 1996a. Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: I. Eras and Paradigms. American Journal of Public Health 86 (5): 668–673.
––––––––––. 1996b. Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: II. From Black Boxes to Chinese Boxes and Eco–Epidemiology. American Journal of Public Health 86 (5): 674–677.
Taubes, Gary y Charles C. Mann. 1995. Epidemiology Faces Its Limits. Science 269: 164–169.
Terris, Milton. 1992. The Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) and the Future of Epidemiology. American Journal of Epidemiology 136 (8): 909–915.
Weiss, Mitchell. 2001. Cultural Epidemiology: An Introduction and Overview. Anthropology and Medicine 8 (1): 5–29.
Winkelstein Jr., Warren. 1996. Editorial: Eras, Paradigms, and the Future of Epidemiology. American Journal of Public Health 86 (5): 621–622.
Zielhuis, Gerhard A. y Lambertus ALM Kiemeney 2001. Social Epidemiology? No Way. International Journal of Epidemiology 30: 43–44.
Open access policy
The authors who publish in región y sociedad accept the following conditions:
In accordance with the copyright laws, región y sociedad recognizes and respects the authors’ moral rights, as well as the ownership of property rights, which will be transferred to the journal to disseminate the articles in open access. región y sociedad does not charge the authors for submitting and processing articles for publication.
All the texts published by región y sociedad —with no exception— are distributed under a Creative Commons license 4.0 Attribution – Noncommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0 International), which allows third parties to use the publication as long as they mention the works’ authorship and the first publication in this journal.
The authors can enter into independent and additional contractual agreements for the nonexclusive distribution of the version of the article published in región y sociedad (for instance include it into an institutional repository or publish it in a book) as long as they clearly indicate that the work was published for the first time in región y sociedad.
For all the above, the author(s) must send the Letter of transfer of property rights of the first publication duly filled in and signed by the author(s). This letter can be sent by e-mail as a PDF to: region@colson.edu.mx