Epidemiology 9 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
True or False? A population pyramid involves an age/sex comparison.
answer
True
question
Describing health-related states or events by person, place, and time allows us to do all of the following EXCEPT: a) Identify the extent of the public health problem. b) Describe the public health problem in a way that can be communicated easily. c) Identify who is at greatest risk. d) Confirm causal associations
answer
*d) Confirm causal associations*
question
A tall, pointed population pyramid shape represents all of the following except:
answer
*a) Low birth rate.* b) High death rate. c) Poor medical care conditions. d) Developing countries.
question
The relationship between the potential to be self-supporting by age and the dependent segments of the population by age, in other words, those segments of the population not in the work force, are called:
answer
Dependency ratio.
question
In the United States, for which of the following is the age-adjusted cause-specific death rate for males most similar to females?
answer
Cerebrovascular diseases
question
In the United States, for which disease is the age-adjusted death rate higher for whites than Hispanics?
answer
Diseases of the heart Malignant neoplasms Chronic lower respiratory diseases Suicide
question
What two theories have been proposed to explain better health among married individuals?
answer
Protection, selection
question
Health status and mortality of a population can be affected by the levels of employment within the population. This observation is called:
answer
Healthy worker effect
question
A time trend in chickenpox is best referred to as a:
answer
Cyclical pattern.
question
True or False? A birth cohort analysis plots the distribution of age at incidence or death for a selected disease or event by year of death.
answer
False
question
The primary limitation in establishing cause-effect relationships in descriptive studies is due to:
answer
Confounding
question
Descriptive epidemiology is useful for all of the following except:
answer
a) Identifying the extent of the public health problem. b) Describing the public health problem in a way that can be easily communicated. c) Identifying who is at greatest risk. *d) Answering why and how the health problem occurred.*
question
True or False? Secular trends are usually considered to last longer than 1 year.
answer
True
question
How does prevalence proportion differ from incidence?
answer
An incidence rate is the number of new cases and the prevalence is the number of current cases (people still alive).
question
__________________ epidemiology uses several indices to identify the health status of populations.
answer
Descriptive
question
How many additional or contributing causes of death can be listed on the death certificate?
answer
Two
question
Number of men in the U.S. who died of myocardial infarction in 2011/Number of men in the U.S. who died in 2011 The fraction shown above is a:
answer
A proportion but not a mortality rate.
question
Number of men in the U.S. who died of myocardial infarction in 2011/Number of women in the U.S. who died of myocardial infarction in 2011 The fraction shown above is a:
answer
A ratio but not a proportion
question
True or False? Legal authority for the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths resides individually with the fifty States, Washington, DC, and five territories (Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)
answer
True
question
True or False? Morbidity is the epidemiologic and vital statistics term for death.
answer
False *Mortality
question
What health indicator is used to identify the average number of births per women?
answer
Total fertility rate
question
What is the term for a measure of public health directly related to the value of human life and the economic implications of the loss of individuals in a society?
answer
Years of potential life lost
question
What is the term for the number of deaths among infants ages 0-1 year during a specified time period divided by the number of live births in the same time period?
answer
Infant mortality rate
question
Why have health indicators typically been related to births and deaths?
answer
Because such data has been more readily available than morbidity data.
question
In order to monitor the effects of an assigned exposure for each individual in a study, which study-type is most appropriate?
answer
Case-control
question
Matching in a case-control study is a strategy used to control for confounding. This approach involves what level of the study?
answer
Both design and analysis levels
question
True or false? Recall bias in a case-control study may result in differential misclassification.
answer
True
question
True or False? Another name for prevalence-incidence bias is Berkson's bias.
answer
False
question
True or False? Bias is best controlled at the analysis stage of a study.
answer
False
question
True or False? Controlling for confounding and effect modification is of primary interest in epidemiologic studies.
answer
False
question
What is the primary objective of any case-control or cohort study?
answer
A valid result.
question
When several potential outcomes are being investigated with a given exposure, which study design is more appropriate in an observational study?
answer
Cohort
question
Which of the following is not a type of analytic epidemiology study? a) Cross-sectional b) Case-control c) Cohort d) Experimental
answer
*a) Cross-sectional*
question
Which study design is more prone to differential misclassification because of recall and interviewer bias a) Cross-sectional b) Case-control c) Cohort d) Experimental
answer
b) Case-control
question
Which study design may be either retrospective or prospective?
answer
Cohort
question
For randomization to effectively balance out the effect of confounding factors in an experimental study, we assume:
answer
A sufficiently large sample size
question
How many levels of blinding are possible?
answer
3
question
True or False? A between group design is a type of experimental study but a within group design is a type of serial survey.
answer
False
question
True or False? A within group design does not involve a comparison.
answer
False
question
What factor is directly related to statistical power in an experimental study?
answer
The sample size
question
What method is most useful for controlling confounding at the design level of an experimental study?
answer
Randomization
question
What phase trial is relatively small (up to 50 people), randomized and blinded that tests tolerability, safe dosage, side effects, and how the body copes with the drug?
answer
Phase 2
question
Which of the following is a limitation to blinding? a) It eliminates bias. b) It minimizes the placebo effect. c) It may increase the risk of confounding. d) Ethical issues.
answer
d) Ethical issues
question
Which of the following is a limitation to randomization? a) Eliminates conscious bias due to physician or patient selection. b) Averages out unconscious bias due to unknown factors. c) Groups are "alike on average." d) Ethical issues.
answer
d) Ethical issues
question
Which study design has the best potential for establishing a cause-effect relationship? a) Cross-sectional b) Case-control c) Cohort d) Experimental
answer
d) Experimental
question
A larger sample size in an epidemiologic study implies all of the following *except:* a) Smaller confidence intervals around the estimated parameter. b) More reliable inference. c) Less variability. d) Larger P-value.
answer
d) Larger P-value
question
The first step in the fish bone diagram activity involves which of the following? a)Brainstorming b) Developing subcategories of all specific causes for each of the major category areas c) Placing all possible risk factors or causes within the categories and subcategories in the diagram on the lines that create the fish bone effect d) None of the above
answer
a) Brainstorming
question
True or False? A web of causation is more easily constructed for an infectious disease than a non-infectious chronic disease.
answer
True
question
True or False? Causal inference is a conclusion about the population, based on sample data.
answer
False
question
What is the following an example of? Aggravate presence of disease (e.g., repeated exposure).
answer
Reinforcing factors
question
What is the following an example of? Associated with definitive onset of disease (e.g., toxin).
answer
Precipitating factors
question
What is the following an example of? Facilitate manifestation of a disease (e.g., housing)
answer
Enabling factors
question
What is the following an example of? Increase level of susceptibility in a host (e.g., age).
answer
Predisposing factors
question
Which causal criterion was an important part of Koch's postulates?
answer
Specificity
question
Which of the following epidemiologic study designs is the least effective at establishing a causal association?
answer
Ecologic study
question
Which word best represents deviation of the results from the truth?
answer
Bias
question
Cyclic patterns
answer
Periodic increases or decreases in the occurrence of health-related states or events.
question
Expansive pyramid
answer
A pyramid showing a broad base and has a tall, pointed shape which represents a rapid rate of population growth and a low proportion of older people.
question
Constrictive pyramid
answer
A population pyramid showing a lower number or percentage of younger people; low birth rate.
question
Population pyramid
answer
Shows the distribution of age groups in a population
question
Public Health Surveillance
answer
Systematic ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data.
question
Point source
answer
Epidemic in which persons are exposed to the same exposure over a limited time period.
question
Serial survey
answer
A cross-sectional survey that is routinely conducted.
question
Seasonal trend
answer
Periodic increases and decreases in the occurrence, interval, or frequency of disease.
question
Secular trend
answer
Long-term change in morbidity or mortality rates for a given health-related state or event in a specified population.
question
Stationary pyramid
answer
More block shaped, with low fertility and low mortality.
question
Temporal
answer
Time or time-related elements or issues.
question
Health Indicator
answer
A marker of health status (physical or mental disease, impairments or disability, and social well-being), service provision, or resource availability.
