ABSTRACT
Reproductive epidemiology spans a broad area of research, including virtually all studies of maternal and infant health. Researchers use epidemiologic tools to study behavioral, environmental, and health care risks to reproduction for both men and women and risks to the health of their offspring. A key area of research in reproductive epidemiology is the safety and efficacy of treatments of maternal and infant complications. Epidemiologic studies may be either descriptive or analytic. Descriptive epidemiology is the study of the amount and distribution of characteristics, risk of health problems, or exposures to risk factors within specific populations. Descriptive epidemiology is the study of the what, who, where, and when of health problems. Study size is an important consideration for both descriptive and analytic studies, because the size of the sample determines the precision of the prevalence estimate.
