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A dictionary of epidemiology
Jos Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes
J Epidemiol Community Health 2009;63;337
doi:10.1136/jech.2008.082511

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Editorial

A dictionary of epidemiology
Jose Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes
When the first edition of A Dictionary of
Epidemiology was launched in 1983,1 its
principal aim was to facilitate communication among health professionals. The
field was relatively young and comprised
complex interdisciplinary relations ranging from the biomedical sciences to
statistics and the social sciences. The
International Epidemiological Association
(IEA) co-sponsored the project with the
aim of developing certain standards for
teaching, research reports and communication of epidemiological findings to the
public. This is a well-known history: John
M Last, the emeritus professor of epidemiology and community medicine from
the University of Ottawa, Canada, was
appointed as the editor of A Dictionary,
and kept ahead of the task during the
subsequent decades. The original slim
pocket book grew substantially with each
re-edit,24 keeping pace with the remarkable developments in the discipline.
When the fourth edition was launched
in 2001, John Last told me with a smile
that he would die soon, supposedly to
increase the value of the signature he had
just
handwritten
in
my
book.
Fortunately, he did not, and his love for
dictionary-making allowed him to produce his A Dictionary of Public Health,5 and
to collaborate in the recently launched
fifth edition of A Dictionary,6 now
edited by Miquel Porta, professor of
preventive medicine and public health
from the Universitat Auto
`noma de
Barcelona, senior scientist of the Institut
Municipal dInvestigacio
Me`dica in
Barcelona, Spain, and collaborator in the
previous editions.
If he had to limit his professional
bookcase to a single volume, Professor
Charles du V Florey, the former president
of the IEA, would choose to keep A
Dictionary. I argue that anybody among
usepidemiologists and would-be epidemiologists (hopefully with a larger
shelf)should also have a copy of this
book at hand for frequent consultation.
Correspondence to: Jose Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes,
University of Sao Paulo, School of Dentistry, 2227 Av.
Prof. Lineu Prestes, 05508900 Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil;
leopoldo@usp.br

J Epidemiol Community Health May 2009 Vol 63 No 5

The collective effort gathered in its

making is impressive. Miquel Porta has
built over the previously crafted editions,
and has relied on the support of a wide
network of professionals to update each
entry and to expand the selection of
subjects. The Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health joined the initiative by
publishing a call for submissions.7 Items
already selected from the previous edition
have been revised and updated; several
new items have been added. As a result,
the fifth edition of A Dictionary performs normative and informative functions: you will be informed on important
matters and instructed on how to proceed
in the epidemiological field. Readers with
different needs and anxieties with knowledge will find straightforward writing,
authoritative definitions and pertinent
bibliographical references.
How to differentiate a rate from a ratio,
incidence from prevalence, confounding
from intervening variables, type I from
type II error? How to appraise emerging
themes in the epidemiological literature
such as genetic polymorphisms and
Bayesian statistics? Key methodological
issues such as meta-analysis, multilevel
analysis and regression models: the list
solely enrols a small sample of possible
searches. The selection of issues was
broad in scope; intelligent and synthetic
writing contemplated from the easier to
the more intricate subjects.
You may want to update conceptual
and methodological issues relevant to
your teaching and research activities, to
resolve doubts or to confirm an impression. You may want to check on terminology, fulfil curiosities or learn about
topics unrelated to your preferential
themes. You may be a professional
applied to other health specialities, an
undergraduate or a high school student.
Several users will meet their needs by
consulting A Dictionary; even those who
aimlessly scan the text may find some
valuable insight. While it will not resolve
all your needs in the epidemiological field,
it surely provides enough substance to
build ona very good start or ammunition for more comprehensive searches.
Miquel Porta dealt with the challenge
of preparing reader-friendly texts on a

wide range of subjects, which will satisfy

both a beginner and an experienced
epidemiologist. He seems to have transposed Occams razor (see the correspondent entry: the philosophical principle of
parsimony assumptions to explain a
phenomenon must not be multiplied
beyond necessity)6 to the writing of
the book. If I may indulge in selftestimony, I found my teenage daughter
consulting the book and it motivated a
conversation on subjects so dear to me.
Arousing the interest of the young for a
speciality admittedly perceived as difficult
by adolescents; as goes the popular saying,
this is priceless!
Epidemiology is the study of the
occurrence and distribution of healthrelated states or events in specified populations, including the study of the determinants influencing such states, and the
application of this knowledge to control
the health problems.6 The definition has
matured over the years and presents slight
modifications from its previous formulation in the fourth edition. The entry for
Epidemiology expands the conceptualisation of terms comprised in the definition and includes historical aspects. In
subsequent years, this definition will be
the benchmark of the discipline, until
Miquel Porta and his collaborators eventually prepare a further edition to meet
the new needs that the future may bring
forth. I dare to guess that the prospective
sixth edition of A Dictionary will have
an online dynamic interface interacting
with the hard copy. I also dare to guess
that it will include a new entry for A
Dictionary of Epidemiology, whose importance to the professional field will surely
have earned it.
Competing interests: None.
Accepted 18 November 2008
J Epidemiol Community Health 2009;63:337.
doi:10.1136/jech.2008.082511

REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

In: Last JM, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology. New

York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
In: Last JM, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology, 2nd edn.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
In: Last JM, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology, 3rd edn.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
In: Last JM, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology, 4th edn.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
In: Last JM, ed. A dictionary of public health. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
In: Porta M, ed. A dictionary of epidemiology, 5th edn.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Porta M. A dictionary of epidemiology, 5th edn. A call
for submissions through an innovative wiki. J Epidemiol
Community Health 2006;60:653.

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