Chapter 6

Exercise Epidemiology

Introduction

This chapter begins by defining exercise epidemiology and how it evolved as a subdiscipline of exercise science. The author then describes several different areas of study in exercise epidemiology and the research methods that are used in the field. The chapter concludes by describing future directions in exercise epidemiology, research tools, professional organizations, and employment opportunities. Students are encouraged to inquire about the various professional organizations in exercise epidemiology and potential career opportunities.

Chapter Objectives

After studying this chapter, students will be able to do the following:

  1. Define exercise epidemiology and how it evolved as a subdiscipline of exercise science.
  2. Describe the various areas of study in exercise epidemiology.
  3. Describe several different research methodologies that are used in exercise epidemiology.
  4. Identify several different employment opportunities in exercise epidemiology.
  5. Identify several different professional associations in exercise epidemiology.
  6. Describe some future directions in exercise epidemiology.

Study Questions

  1. Define exercise epidemiology and describe how it developed as a subdiscipline of exercise science.
  2. What is a cerebrovascular disease, and describe what previous studies have found regarding the relationship between physical inactivity and the risk for cerebrovascular disease.
  3. Describe the difference between essential hypertension and secondary hypertension.
  4. Describe the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and the effects of exercise on both diseases.
  5. Describe the two types of osteoporosis and how exercise can be used to prevent osteoporosis.
  6. Describe what an incidence rate is, and then give descriptions of the three general categories of incidence rates.
  7. Describe a cross-sectional survey.
  8. Describe a case-control study.
  9. Describe a prospective cohort study.
  10. Describe a randomized controlled trial.
  11. What is Metabolic Syndrome X, and why is it an important topic in future exercise epidemiology research?

Student Activities

  1. Have students go to the website for the International Epidemiological Association (IEA; www.IEAWEB.org) and write a two-page summary of the history of the association and its goals.
  2. Have students find a full-text article in a journal related to exercise epidemiology and write an abstract that describes the methods and results from the study.
  3. Have students, small groups, come up with research ideas to examine Metabolic Syndrome X using two of the research methodologies described in the chapter.

Lab

Disease Risk Tests

Download

Quizzes

Links

American Cancer Society (ACS)

http://www.cancer.org

American Diabetes Association (ADA)

http://www.diabetes.org

American Heart Association (AHA)

http://www.americanheart.org

International Epidemiological Association (IEA)

http://www.IEAWEB.org