[Realm and goals of social epidemiology. A contribution to determining current status in relation to German language...

A first approach to the word "social epidemiology" is provided by the two components social and epidemiology. They suggest that the social dimension of the distribution of morbidity and mortality should be analysed by means of epidemiological methods. The interest in this topic has risen considerably in recent years, but it is difficult to exactly specify the questions "social-epidemiologists" are analysing or should be analysing. That is why the "Social Epidemiology Working Group" is now reviewing the state of the art of social epidemiology discussions in the German-speaking countries. The overview shows the broad spectrum of social epidemiology topics, but also the difficulties in providing a clear definition. In a brief description of the Anglo-American discussion it is pointed out that social epidemiology have to deal with similar problems there, and that they classify their work as epidemiology rather than social epidemiology. The paper concludes with recommendations by the Working Group concerning the main topics and objectives of current socio-epidemiological research.