articleThe Lancet Public HealthMar 27, 2024GOLD OA

Life course epidemiology and public health

CWCornelia WagnerCCCristian CarmeliJJJosephine JackischMKMika KivimäkiBLB. Lindén

University of Fribourg · Stockholm University · +5 more institutions

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Abstract

Life course epidemiology aims to study the effect of exposures on health outcomes across the life course from a social, behavioural, and biological perspective. In this Review, we describe how life course epidemiology changes the way the causes of chronic diseases are understood, with the example of hypertension, breast cancer, and dementia, and how it guides prevention strategies. Life course epidemiology uses complex methods for the analysis of longitudinal, ideally population-based, observational data and takes advantage of new approaches for causal inference. It informs primordial prevention, the prevention of exposure to risk factors, from an eco-social and life course perspective in which health and…

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Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Life course approach
  • Epidemiology
  • Public health
  • Observational study
  • Medicine
  • Population
  • Gerontology
  • Social epidemiology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Good health and well-being
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