Complex systems abound in public health. Complex systems are made up of heterogeneous elements that interact with one another, have emergent properties that are not explained by understanding the individual elements of the system, persist over time, and adapt to changing circumstances. Public health is starting to use results from systems science studies to shape practice and policy, for example in preparing for global pandemics. However, systems science study designs and analytic methods remain underutilized and are not widely featured in public health curricula or training. In this review we present an argument for the utility of systems science methods in public health, introduce three important systems science methods (system dynamics, network analysis, and agent-based modeling), and provide three case studies in which these methods have been used to answer important public health science questions in the areas of infectious disease, tobacco control, and obesity.

中文翻译：

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公共卫生中的系统科学方法：动力学、网络和代理。

复杂的系统在公共卫生领域比比皆是。复杂系统由相互交互的异构元素组成，具有无法通过理解系统的单个元素来解释的涌现属性，随着时间的推移持续存在并适应不断变化的环境。公共卫生开始利用系统科学研究的结果来制定实践和政策，例如为全球流行病做准备。然而，系统科学研究设计和分析方法仍未得到充分利用，并且在公共卫生课程或培训中并未得到广泛采用。在这篇综述中，我们提出了系统科学方法在公共卫生中的实用性的论点，介绍了三种重要的系统科学方法（系统动力学、网络分析和基于代理的建模），