Graduate Prerequisites: SPH EP 714 or SPH PH 717. - This 2-credit course introduces public health students to major research topics regarding age-related diseases, disorders, and disabilities, as well as the special considerations in the design and conduct of epidemiologic studies in this field. The main objectives of each session are to 1) use web-based or public-use data on the incidence, prevalence, risk factors, and health consequences of the disease or condition to describe why it is important to study in elderly adults; 2) critically review 1-2 articles to understand the current state of knowledge on the topic; and 3) examine the special methodological issues that conducting studies of the topic in an elderly study population pose. These objectives will be met by brief student presentations each week of the epidemiology of the disease/condition, lectures by researchers who are performing studies on that condition, and journal club discussions of relevant articles that students will critique. Students will also have an opportunity to apply selected concepts through a data analysis activity. Students will synthesize this information in a short (8-10 page) grant proposal for a study on the prevention or treatment of a disease/condition that affects elderly adults. After completing this course, students will be able to articulate the importance of studying aging-related conditions, be equipped to support the design and conduct of aging-related studies, and understand and apply special analytic considerations in the analysis of aging-related datasets.

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