Use of epidemiology in primary care.

There is increasing interest in developing a stronger relationship between epidemiology and primary care. The practice of primary care, either individual-, family- or community-oriented, goes from examination and definition of health problems through planning, intervention, surveillance and evaluation. In individual-oriented primary care, the use of epidemiology is mainly based on the application of knowledge and principles. Community-oriented primary care requires, in addition, the application of epidemiological methods to perform surveys designed to quantify health problems in the community, thus allowing for planning of preventive and curative services.