Epidemiology and Culture

This book reveals unexamined assumptions and shows how sociocultural context influences measurement of disease.

James A. Trostle (Author)

9780521793896, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 February 2005

230 pages, 10 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.31 kg

'The strength of this book lies in its broad scope that covers history, methods, case studies, and current issues. Each chapter has a further reading list and importantly, Trostle provides comprehensive references which include some of the most seminal research studies in the fields of social medicine, social epidemioloy, and medical anthropology … Trostle's book is the first that I am aware of that provides such a broad and accessible review of the history and current state of the field of culture/medical anthropology.' Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy

This book shows how practitioners in the emerging field of 'cultural epidemiology' describe human health, communicate with diverse audiences, and intervene to improve health and prevent disease. It uses textual and statistical portraits of disease to describe past and present collaborations between anthropology and epidemiology. Interpreting epidemiology as a cultural practice helps to reveal the ways in which measurement, causal thinking, and intervention design are all influenced by belief, habit, and theories of power. By unpacking many common disease risks and epidemiologic categories, this book reveals unexamined assumptions and shows how sociocultural context influences measurement of disease. Examples include studies of epilepsy, cholera, mortality on the Titanic, breastfeeding, and adolescent smoking. The book describes methods as varied as observing individuals, measuring social networks, and compiling data from death certificates. It argues that effective public health interventions must work more often and better at the level of entire communities.

1. Introduction
2. The origins of an integrated approach in anthropology and epidemiology
3. Disease patterns and assumptions: unpacking variables
4. Cultural issues in measurement and bias
5. Anthropological contributions to the study of cholera
6. Anthropological and epidemiological collaboration to help communities become healthier
7. Perceiving and representing risk
8. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Medical anthropology [PSXM], Human biology [PSX], Epidemiology & medical statistics [MBNS], Physical anthropology [JHMP], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Sociology & anthropology [JH]