Epidemiology of Doctor-Patient Relationship

Epidemiology is the study of health phenomena that affect communities or human groups and the factors that influence these patterns, depending on time, place and people. It tries to determine, over the years, whether a certain phenomenon or characteristic (for example, illness) has increased or decreased, if its frequency in one geographical area is greater than in another, and if people who have that certain phenomenon show characteristics different from those that do not. General practice is an important source of information on the occurrence and distribution of disease in the community.