ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the special problems associated with dental epidemiology. It considers means of comparing prevalence among studies using either some form of standardisation or by calculating the common odds ratio. The book deals with the suggestion that it is possible to deduce occupation from the skeleton. It suggests the essentials in planning an epidemiological study based on human remains. Outcome variables are of the greatest importance in any epidemiological study; in palaeoepidemiology they are most often some disease or other condition that affects the skeleton and that requires diagnosis. The book describes the analytical methods in palaeoepidemiology, that is, when associations between different conditions are explored or when aetiological factors of disease are investigated.