When to Trigger
Activate this skill when the user mentions:
- SIR, SEIR, compartmental models, R0, reproduction number
- Outbreak investigation, contact tracing, epidemic curves
- Incidence, prevalence, mortality rates, case-fatality ratio
- Risk factors, odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio
- Cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional surveys
- DAGs (directed acyclic graphs), causal inference, confounding
- Vaccine efficacy, herd immunity, attack rate
Step-by-Step Methodology
- Define the epidemiological question - Specify the disease/condition, population, time period, and geographic scope. Determine if descriptive, analytic, or modeling approach is needed.
- Data characterization - Identify data source (surveillance, registry, survey). Assess case definitions (confirmed, probable, suspected). Check completeness and reporting biases.
- Descriptive epidemiology - Characterize by person (age, sex, demographics), place (geographic distribution, mapping), and time (epidemic curves, secular trends, seasonality).