Clinical Epidemiology
Authors: ALVAN R. FEINSTEIN
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1968)

Special Articles1 October 1968Clinical EpidemiologyI. The Populational Experiments of Nature and of Man in Human IllnessALVAN R. FEINSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.ALVAN R. FEINSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-69-4-807 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptINTRODUCTIONTHE EPIDEMIOLOGIST'S MIGRATION TO CLINICAL MEDICINEEpidemiology gets its name from the study of epidemics. Because the word epidemic has traditionally been applied to an outbreak of contagion, infectious diseases have been the classical source of concepts, methods, and technology in epidemiologic research. Almost all the activities of contemporary epidemiology, including its customary academic location in Departments of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, are derived from a heritage of infectious disease and from the pioneering role of microbiology in the evolution of medical knowledge.In the chronology of medical science, infectious diseases were among the first of man's many...References1. PAUL JR: Clinical epidemiology. J. Clin. Invest. 17: 539, 1938. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. PAUL JR: Clinical Epidemiology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1958 (Revised edition, 1966). Google Scholar3. GREENWOOD M: Medical Statistics from Graunt to Farrt, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1948. Google Scholar4. LOUIS PC: An Essay on Clinical Instruction [Translated by MARTIN, P.], S. Highley, London, 1834. Google Scholar5. GAINESLANGFORD WJHG: Research on the effect of bloodletting in several inflammatory maladies. [Translation of an article by P. Ch. A. Louis in Arch. Gen. Med. 321, 1835.] Arch. Intern. Med. (Chicago) 106: 571, 1960. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. RYLE JA: The Natural History of Disease, Oxford University Press, London, 1936. Google Scholar7. RYLE JA: Changing Disciplines, Oxford University Press, London, 1948. Google Scholar8. SPENCE JC: The Purpose and Practice of Medicine, Oxford University Press, London, 1960. Google Scholar9. BRADFORD HILL A: Statistical Methods in Clinical and Preventive Medicine, E. & S. Livingstone, Ltd., Edinburgh, 1962. Google Scholar10. FLETCHERJONESBURROWSNIDEN CMNLBAH: American emphysema and British bronchitis. A standardized comparative study. Amer. Rev. Resp. Dis. 90: 1, 1964. MedlineGoogle Scholar11. FEINSTEIN AR: Clinical Judgment, The Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1967. Google Scholar12. SCHIMMEL EM: The hazards of hospitalization. Ann. Intern. Med. 60: 100, 1964. LinkGoogle Scholar13. GREGG JR: The Language of Taxonomy, Columbia University Press, New York, 1954. CrossrefGoogle Scholar14. SIMPSON GG: Principles of Animal Taxonomy, Columbia University Press, New York, 1961. CrossrefGoogle Scholar15. BEERSLOCKHART RJWR: Experimental methods in computer taxonomy. J. Gen. Microbiol. 28: 633, 1962. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar16. JAHN TL: The use of computers in systematics. J. Parasit. 48: 656, 1962. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar17. SOKALSNEATH RRPH: Principles of Numerical Taxonomy, W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, 1963. Google Scholar18. SIMPSON GG: Current issues in taxonomic theory. [Review of Phenetic and Phylogenetic Classification, edited by HEYWOOD, V. H., MCNEILL, J., Systematics Association, London, 1964.] Science 148: 1078, 1965. CrossrefGoogle Scholar19. MAYR E: Numerical phenetics and taxonomic theory. Syst. Zool. 14: 73, 1965. CrossrefGoogle Scholar20. HEGNAUER R: Chemotaxonomy—past and present. Lloydia 28: 267, 1965. Google Scholar21. LEIFSON E: Bacterial taxonomy: a critique. Bact. Rev. 30: 257, 1966. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: New Haven, ConnecticutFrom the Eastern Research Support Center and the Department of Medicine of the West Haven Veterans Administration Hospital; and the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology of the Yale University School of Medicine; New Haven, Conn.This study was supported in part by grant 13977-03-68-06, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, U. S. Public Health Service Cancer Control Program, Washington, D. C.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Alvan R. Feinstein, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, Conn. 06510. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited ByCOVID-19 and the future of clinical epidemiologyEvidence‐based medicine's curious path: From clinical epidemiology to patient‐centered care through decision analysisAnalyzing Twitter Data to Evaluate People’s Attitudes towards Public Health Policies and Events in the Era of COVID-19History of controlled trials in medicine: real priorities are little-known. Report 1. Basic concepts, terms, and disciplines that use medical experiment: historical and philosophical sourcesTwenty Years of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group: Past, Present, and FutureOBSOLETE: Clinical EpidemiologyClinical EpidemiologyCan we measure ‘Sensationalisim’ and ‘Spin’?The war on errorHow do Economic Evaluations Inform Health Policy Decisions for Treatment and Prevention in Canada and the United States?‘ One mission accomplished, more important ones remain ’: commentary on Every-Palmer, S., Howick, J. (2014) How evidence-based medicine is failing due to biased trials and selective publication. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice , 20 (6), 908-914Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Health CareEvidence, Ethics, and Values: A Framework for Health PromotionClinical EpidemiologyClinical epidemiologyEditorialThe Teaching of Statistics in the Biological, Medical and Health Sciences: Some Comments and a Selected BibliographyDIAGNOSTIC ERRORS AND THEIR IMPACT ON DISEASE TRENDSSocial Psychiatry: Definitions and ScopeThe Epidemiologic BackgroundEpidemiologic Terms, Concepts, and Levels of InvestigationAssociations and CausationINTRODUCTION TO EPIDEMIOLOGYThe Need for an Ethnomedical ScienceWhat Kind of Basic Science for Clinical Medicine?Clinical EpidemiologyA Short History of Evidence-Based MedicineClinical EpidemiologyClinical Epidemiology III. The Clinical Design of Statistics in TherapyALVAN R. FEINSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P. 1 October 1968Volume 69, Issue 4Page: 807-820KeywordsCancer epidemiologyClinical epidemiologyHospital medicineInfectious disease epidemiologyInfectious diseasesMedical servicesMicrobiologyPrevention, policy, and public healthPreventive medicine Issue Published: 1 October 1968 PDF DownloadLoading ...