📊 Category

epidemiology

286 papers

Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread through populations and what factors influence their patterns. Rather than focusing on individual patients, this field examines broader trends to identify outbreaks, track transmission, and guide public health decisions. By analyzing data on infection rates and risk factors, researchers work to prevent future health crises and protect communities worldwide.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category directly from medRxiv to make these critical findings instantly accessible. For each study, we provide both a plain-language explanation for general readers and a detailed technical summary for specialists. This dual approach ensures that vital insights into disease dynamics are understood clearly and quickly by everyone who needs them.

Explore the latest research below to see how scientists are currently mapping disease trends and developing strategies to safeguard global health.

📊 epidemiology

Estimating severity and rate of change of depressive symptoms in adolescence: a comparison of functional principal component analysis and mixed effects models

This study utilized data from over 8,000 adolescents to compare functional principal component analysis and mixed effects models for mapping depressive symptom trajectories, revealing that females experience higher and earlier symptom peaks than males, while early-life stressors like abuse and bullying accelerate both the intensity and timing of symptom escalation.

Hernandez, M. A., Kwong, A. S., Li, C., Simpkin, A. J., Wootton, R. E., Joinson, C., Elhakeem, A.2026-04-14
📊 epidemiology

Prioritising determinants of systemic inflammation across molecular, physiological and disease phenotypes.

This large-scale Mendelian randomisation study identifies adiposity and specific lipid metabolites as key causal drivers of systemic inflammation, revealing that CRP serves as a broad, integrated readout of inflammatory burden influenced by diverse metabolic traits, whereas IL-6 reflects a more tightly regulated process primarily driven by adiposity.

Shepherd, F., Slaney, C., Jones, H. J., Dardani, C., Stergiakouli, E., Sanderson, E. C. M., Hamilton, F., Rosoff, D. B. (…)2026-04-14
📊 epidemiology

The Role of Climate Change in the Expansion of Dengue

This study uses statistical modeling of over 20 years of data to demonstrate that anthropogenic climate change drove a 34% increase in dengue incidence across Brazil during the record-hot 2023/24 season, highlighting how temperature anomalies differentially expanded the disease's range in southern regions while suppressing it in northern areas.

Cesario de Abreu, R., Perez Fernandez, I., Mishra, S., Gutierrez, B., Inward, R. P. D., Mills, C., Lopez Ortiz, E., Bast (…)2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

Wearable-derived physiological features for trans-diagnostic disease comparison and classification in the All of Us longitudinal real-world dataset

This study demonstrates that incorporating wearable-derived physiological features, such as heart rate, activity, and sleep patterns, significantly improves the classification and risk stratification of multiple chronic physical and mental health conditions in a large longitudinal real-world dataset, with particularly strong gains observed for major depressive disorder and anxiety.

Huang, X., Hsieh, C., Nguyen, Q., Renteria, M. E., Gharahkhani, P.2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

Non-genetic component of height as a surrogate marker for childhood socioeconomic position and its association with cardiovascular and brain health: results from HCHS/SOL

This study demonstrates that the non-genetic component of adult height, derived as a residual from genetically predicted height, serves as a valid surrogate marker for childhood socioeconomic position and is positively associated with cardiovascular and brain health in middle-aged and older adults within the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

Moon, J.-Y., Filigrana, P., Gallo, L. C., Perreira, K. M., Cai, J., Daviglus, M., Fernandez-Rhodes, L. E., Garcia-Bedoya (…)2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

Time to diagnosis among children and adolescents with cancer in Quebec, Canada: a population-based study

This population-based study of nearly 3,000 children and adolescents in Quebec reveals that time to cancer diagnosis varies significantly by cancer type, age, and geographic location, with the longest delays for carcinomas and shortest for leukemias, while also noting that diagnostic intervals shortened for several cancer types in the post-pandemic period.

Mullen, C., Barr, R. D., Strumpf, E., El-Zein, M., Franco, E. L., Malagon, T.2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

Recombinant zoster vaccination in patients with dementia is associated with improved survival and better cognitive preservation

This study demonstrates that among patients with established dementia, receiving the recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix) is associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality and slower cognitive decline compared to receiving other vaccines.

Soltys, K., Sara-Buchbut, R., Ish Shalom, N., Stokar, J., Klein, B. Y., Calderon-Margalit, R., Greenblatt, C. L., Ben-Ha (…)2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

GPS Mobility Tracking, Ecological Momentary Assessment, and Qualitative Interviewing to Specify How Space Produces Intersectional Health Inequities: Development and Pilot Testing of the Spatial Intersectionality Health Framework (SIHF) and IGEMA Methodology

This paper presents the development and pilot testing of the Spatial Intersectionality Health Framework (SIHF) and the IGEMA methodology, which integrate GPS tracking, ecological momentary assessment, and qualitative interviews to empirically demonstrate how layered, positional, and conditional spatial mechanisms drive intersectional health inequities among young sexual and gender minorities of color.

Cook, S. H.2026-04-13
📊 epidemiology

Sexual risk behaviours following medical male circumcision: a matched pseudo-cohort analysis using population-based survey data

Using a matched pseudo-cohort analysis of the 2024 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, this study found that medical male circumcision was not associated with increased sexual risk behaviors, thereby supporting the behavioral safety of the intervention and demonstrating the value of adapting cross-sectional data to address temporal challenges.

Mwakazanga, D. K., daka, v., Gwasupika, J. K., Dombola, A. K., Kapungu, K. K., Khondowe, S., Chongwe, G. K., Fwemba, I. (…)2026-04-13