HSC 404 Mid-term – Flashcards
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What is clinical approach (as opposed to an epidemiological approach)?
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Description of specific signs and symptoms in a patient
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John Snow, author of Snow on Cholera....
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was an early epidemiologist who used natural experiments.
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What are the aims of epidemiology (5)?
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-To describe the health status of the population -To explain the etiology of disease -To predict the occurrence of disease -To control the distribution of disease
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TRUE OR FALSE In current thinking, the term "epidemic" is used only to describe outbreaks of infectious disease.
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False
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TRUE OR FALSE The study of diseases linked to harmful physical energy, such as ionizing radiation, would be outside the scope of epidemiology.
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False
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TRUE OR FALSE John Snow is credited with developing the smallpox vaccination.
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False
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TRUE OR FALSE The epidemiological and clinical descriptions of a disease are different.
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True
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TRUE OR FALSE The 2009-2010 episode of influenza first identified in the United States and eventually called 2009 H1N1 influenza was classified as a pandemic by WHO in summer 2009.
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True
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TRUE OR FALSE The Framingham Heart Study, begun in 1948, pioneered research into coronary heart disease risk factors.
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True
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TRUE OR FALSE Koch published "Die Aetiologie der Tuberkulose" in 1882, a breakthrough that led to improved classification of disease by specific causal organisms.
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True
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An example of primary prevention active would be....
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nutritional counseling for pregnant women
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An example of primary prevention passive would be...
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pasteurization of milk
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An example of secondary prevention would be...
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screening for breast cancer
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An example of tertiary prevention would be...
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halfway houses for persons recovering from addiction
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What three things should be considered in measuring long-term changes in disease frequency over time?
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-changes in diagnostic criteria -changes in the age distribution -changes in the fatal course of the condition
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According to the natural history of disease model, the time before the precursors of disease and the host interact is called the period of....
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prepathogenesis
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The Gini index....
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-is a measure of income inequality -is related to the number of unhealthy days in US states -varies across states in the US -represents complete income inequality when it is 1 -DOES NOT RANGE FROM 1-2
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Increases in lung cancer mortality, especially among women, illustrates the trend in disease occurrence which is...
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a new epidemic disorder
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There has been an increase in the number of epidemiological studies reported in medical journals because...
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they interest the public and physicians are concerned with preventative medicine.
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What forms of prevention take place after the precursors of disease interact with the host?
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Secondary and tertiary
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A disadvantage of crude rate is that...
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it does not permit comparison of populations that vary in composition
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The risk of acquiring a given disease during a time period is best determined by...
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the incidence rate (cumulative incidence) for that disease in a given period of time
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The incidence of a disease is five times greater in men than in women, but the prevalence shows no sex difference. What is the most likely explanation for this phenomena?
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The duration of the disease is greater in women
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Determining workload and planning the scope of facilities and manpower needs, particularly for chronic disease, utilizes what type of data?
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This is a use primarily for prevalence data
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The fundamental tool for etiologic studies of both acute and chronic disease is...
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incidence data
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Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year are....
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cyclic fluctuations
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The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously is...
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a point epidemic
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An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time is...
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case clustering
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An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure is....
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a continuous common source epidemic
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An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence is...
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a common source epidemic
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A big reason for gender differences in mortality may be...
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greater frequency of smoking among men
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The use of GIS may be thought of as following the heritage of...
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Snow
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High rates of mortality from hypertension found among African Americans may be due to...
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-dietary factors -exposure to stress -lack of social support -obesity
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Marital status is an important descriptive epidemiological variable because it is...
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-theorized to be a selective factor in health -theorized to be a protective factor in health
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A null hypothesis is most similar to...
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a negative declaration
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What is one of the widely used sources of statistical data on cancer?
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Disease registries
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What data sources have the advantage of being almost nearly complete in the US?
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-mortality statistics -birth statistics
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The best routinely available sources of data regarding the incidence of respiratory disease outbreaks and other rapidly spreading conditions are...
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reports of absenteeism from work and school
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What data source is most likely to provide a representative sample of the general health status of a population?
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a morbidity survey of the general population
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The US census...
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-administers a detailed questionnaire to a subset of the population -attempts to account for every person in the country -characterizes the population according to demographic variables
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Cautious use of information from death certificates is warranted because...
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cause of death information may not be correct
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An abrupt drop in mortality due to a specific disease from one year to the next is most likely due to...
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a change in the International Classification of Disease system
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The Vital Statistics Registration System in the US collects data on all vital events including....
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-births -deaths -fetal deaths
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Clinical data sources include...
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-hospital data -diseases treated in special clinics -data from physicians' records
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Before utilizing data for an epidemiological study, the researcher must first consider the....
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-nature of the data -availability of the data -completeness of the data
