Research Axes
Clinical Epidemiology
Description
In this axis, a special emphasis is put on diagnosis and prognosis of diseases: validation of biomarkers, scales for screening/diagnosing diseases, disease prognostic factors. This axis also evaluates the clinical practice related to these aspects and patient reported outcomes (quality of life or other).
Recommendations
01
Encourage health care professionals to work on the transition from research to public health practices which has the best chance of reducing the burden of diseases in the coming years and it involves: (1) Using validated questionnaires to diagnose chronic diseases (e.g., DS COPD: diagnosis score for COPD patients), or to measure patients’ health status (e.g., SGRQ: St Georges’ Respiratory Questionnaire for asthma and COPD patients), and (2) Using validated scales to assess the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases (e.g., CCQ score, Clinical COPD Questionnaire, SGRQ for asthma and COPD patients).
02
Emphasize the importance of using specific biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of chronic diseases.
03
Give increased priority to the role of research in the field of clinical epidemiology and explore the opportunities of providing funds to conduct more research on clinical biomarkers. In fact, the measurement of biomarkers has become a hot topic and is needed to assess the prevalence, severity, progression and response to treatment of chronic diseases.