title: Epidemiology: an essential science for speech-language pathology and audiology.
abstract: This article introduces epidemiology as a health science that is essential as a complement to the basic laboratory and clinical sciences in speech-language pathology and audiology. A contemporary definition of epidemiology is presented. Principles of epidemiology, including causal criteria, and use and misuse of concepts such as incidence, prevalence, and risk are elaborated from the perspective of practitioners and researchers in human communication sciences and disorders. The ubiquity of epidemiologic data in the news media illustrates the complexities of data interpretation.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Lubker
mesh_terms: D001298:Audiology / Q000193:education*; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003479:Curriculum; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D012106:Research; D012306:Risk; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000193:education*