question

Analytic Study

answer

A hypothesis-testing method of investigating the association between a given disease or other condition and possible causative factors. Usually the unit of observation is the individual.

question

Attack Rate:

answer

The number of new cases of a disease per unit population at risk occurring over a defined period of time.

question

Bias:

answer

Any effect at any stage of investigation or inference which may produce results that are not true. Bias results from systematic flaws in study design, data collection, or the analysis or interpretation of results.

question

Case Control Study:

answer

A type of epidemiologic study in which persons with a specific disease (the cases) and persons without the disease (the controls) are selected; the proportion of cases and controls with certain background characteristics and/or exposure to possible risks are then determined and compared.

question

Case Fatality Rate:

answer

The number of persons dying of a disease divided by the number of persons who have the disease.

question

Clinical Trial:

answer

A medical or epidemiologic experiment in which subjects in a population are randomly allocated into groups to receive or not to receive an experimental prevention or therapeutic procedure or intervention. The results are assessed by comparison of ratings of diseases, death, recover, or appropriate outcome in the groups receiving and not receiving the procedure or intervention.

question

Cohort study, Prospective:

answer

A type of epidemiologic study in which persons initially free from the disease under study are selected and their background characteristics and their exposure to possible risk factors ascertained. These individuals are then followed through time and the proportions who develop the disease among those with and without certain characteristics and/or among those exposed and not exposed to the possible risk factors are determined and compared. Also called a "concurrent prospective study."

question

Cohort Study, Retrospective:

answer

A type of epidemiologic study in which an investigator examines the exposure records of individuals to form a historic cohort population. The occurrence of outcomes in the population would then be investigated based on existing information — thus eliminating the necessity of a follow-up period, which is required for a prospective cohort study. Also called a "historic cohort study."

question

Communicable Disease:

answer

An illness which is caused by a specific agent or its toxic products and which arises through transmission of that agent or its products from a reservoir to a susceptible host — either directly, as from an infected person or animal, or indirectly, through the agency of an intermediate plant or animal host, vector, or the inanimate environment.

question

Comparison or Control Group:

answer

In a case-control study, a group of individuals free of the disease under study who are believed to reflect the characteristics of the population from which the persons with the disease (the cases) were drawn.

question

Confounding Variable

answer

: A variable that (a) is causally related to the disease under study (or serves as a proxy measure for unknown causes) and (b) is statistically correlated with the exposure under study, but is not a consequence of the exposure under study.

question

Cross-sectional Study:

answer

A type of epidemiologic study in which the presence or absence of background characteristics or exposure to possible risk factors and also the presence or absence of the disease under study are measured at one point in time in the individuals being studied. Prevalence rates among those with and without the characteristics or exposed or not exposed to the possible risk factor are then compared.

question

Descriptive Study:

answer

A study of the occurrence of disease or other condition in populations. The relationship of disease to such demographic characteristics as age, sex, race, occupation and social class, to geographic location, and to time period may be studied.

question

Double-blind:

answer

A characteristic of an epidemiologic study such that neither the members of the study population themselves nor the persons observing the outcome in the members of the study population know which individuals were exposed or not exposed to the agent, drug, or procedure under study.

question

Ecologic Study:

answer

A study in which the populations, rather than individuals, are examined and certain attributes are compared - e.g., consumption of fish and cardiac episodes.

question

Ecologic Fallacy:

answer

An error of inference occurring because populations, rather than individuals, are the units of analysis and because a correlation between variables based on population characteristics may not hold true for individual members of these populations.

question

Effect Modification:

answer

A situation in which the magnitude of the association between a causal agent and a disease differs according to the level of a third variable (or according to the level of two or more variables) (also known as 'interaction').

question

Elimination:

answer

Ridding a defined geographic area of a disease. (Contrast with "Eradication.")

question

Endemic:

answer

Usual levels of disease occurrence in a population of a given geographic area in the light of past experience.

question

Epidemic curve:

answer

A plot of the distribution of cases according to time of onset of disease.

question

Epidemiology:

answer

The study of the distribution of a disease or condition in a population and of the factors that influence that distribution.

question

Eradication:

answer

Ridding the world of a disease. (Contrast with "Elimination.")

question

Etiology:

answer

The study of causes of disease.

question

False Negative Rate:

answer

The proportion of persons with a disease in whom a screening test for that disease is negative.

question

False Positive Rate:

answer

False Positive Rate: The proportion of persons without a disease in whom the screening test for that disease is positive.

question

Generalizability:

answer

Whether or not a study's results can be applied to or are relevant for a larger population or group than the group being studied. The ability to draw a general conclusion about a large set of cases based on data from a smaller subset of particular cases.

question

Hypothesis:

answer

A conjecture subject to verification or proof.

question

Incidence Rate:

answer

The number of new cases of disease, per unit population at risk for the disease, occurring during a stated period of time.

question

Infant Mortality Rate:

answer

The number of deaths under one year of age occurring during a stated period of time divided by the total number of live births occurring during that time.

question

Latent Period:

answer

The time interval between exposure to an agent and the development of recognized disease caused by the agent. The term is usually applied to non-infectious agents and is analogous to the term "incubation period" used when applied to infectious agents.

question

Length Bias:

answer

A systematic error occurring when a disproportionate number of long-duration cases (cases who survive the longest) are selected in one group and not in the other(s).

question

Morbidity:

answer

Sickness.

question

Mortality:

answer

Death.

question

Mortality Rate:

answer

The number of deaths occurring per unit population over a stated period of time.

question

Non-causal Association:

answer

A statistical association between the occurrence of a factor and a disease, in which the factor is not a cause of the disease.

question

Nosocomial Infection:

answer

An infection occurring as a result of exposure to a source of infection within a health care facility. The term is usually applied to such infections occurring among in-patients, but is also applicable to such infections occurring among visitors and hospital personnel.

question

Observational Study:

answer

Epidemiologic study in which changes or differences in one characteristic are studied in relation to changes or differences in other characteristic(s), without the intervention of the investigator

question

Odds Ratio:

answer

The ratio of affected to unaffected individuals among those exposed to a given factor divided by the ratio of affected to unaffected individuals among those not exposed to the factor. (For a rare disease, the relative risk may be approximated by the odds ratio.)

question

Pandemic:

answer

Unusually high level of disease occurrence, in the light of past experience, in several countries at about the same time.

question

Pathogenicity:

answer

Ability to cause disease.

question

Person-years:

answer

The sum of the number of years that each person in the study population has been under observation.

question

Placebo:

answer

An inactive preparation given to control subjects in a clinical or prophylactic trial; it is used so that the person in the trial does not know whether she is getting an active preparation.

question

Predictive Value (Negative):

answer

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a person with a negative test does not have the disease.

question

Predictive Value (Positive):

answer

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test actually has the disease.

question

Prevalence Rate:

answer

The number of new and existing cases, per unit population, occurring during a stated period of time (period prevalence) or at one point in time (point prevalence).

question

Primary Prevention:

answer

The prevention of disease in persons who have not yet developed the disease.

question

Secondary Prevention:

answer

The early detection of a disease and prompt and effective intervention to prevent recurrence, morbidity, or mortality.

question

Tertiary Prevention:

answer

The reduction of impairments and disabilities, the minimization of suffering caused by the existence of disease, and the promotion of the patient's adjustments to irremediable conditions.

question

Program Evaluation:

answer

The systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of programs to make judgments about the program, improve program effectiveness, and/or inform decisions about future program development.

question

Public Health:

answer

Efforts organized by society to protect, promote, and restore people's health. The combination of sciences, skills, and beliefs directed to the maintenance and improvement of the health of all the people through collective or social actions. A social institution, a discipline, and a practice with the goal to reduce the amount of disease, premature death, and disease-produced discomfort and disability in the population.

question

Qualitative Research:

answer

Research that derives data from observation, interviews, or verbal interactions and focuses on the meanings and interpretations of the participants.

question

Quantitative Research:

answer

Research that examines phenomenon through the numerical representation of observations and statistical analysis

question

Randomized Clinical Trial:

answer

A study in which the participants are assigned by chance to separate groups that compare different treatments (in a double-blinded trial, neither the researchers nor the participants can choose which group an individual belongs to). Using chance to assign people to groups means that the groups will be similar and that the treatments they receive can be compared objectively.

question

Rate:

answer

A ratio that expresses a change in the numerator with respect to the denominator, which usually includes time.

question

Ratio:

answer

A value obtained by dividing one quantity by another.

question

Relative Risk:

answer

The incidence rate (risk) of disease in the exposed group divided by the incidence rate (risk) in the unexposed group.

question

Reliability (reproducibility):

answer

The extent to which a measurement produces the same results when repeatedly applied to the same situation.

question

Relative Risk:

answer

The incidence rate (risk) of disease in the exposed group divided by the incidence rate (risk) in the unexposed group.

question

Research Methods:

answer

The various ways in which data can be gathered, organized, and analyzed, whether it be quantitative or qualitative data and data analysis.

question

Risk:

answer

The probability that a person with stated characteristics will develop a given disease.

question

Risk factor:

answer

A characteristic or agent whose presence increases the probability of occurrence of a disease.

question

Screening Test:

answer

A test or series of tests performed on apparently healthy individuals to determine whether enough evidence of a disease exists to warrant a further diagnostic examination.

question

Secondary Attack Rate:

answer

The number of new cases of a disease which occur over a relatively short period of time within households or other closed groups of persons in which there is a first or primary case of the disease, per number of susceptible people in the group.

question

Sensitivity:

answer

The extent to which a test identifies as positive all individuals who have a given disease.

question

Specificity:

answer

The extent to which a test identifies as negative all individuals who are free of a given disease

question

Standardized Mortality Ratio:

answer

The ratio of the number of deaths observed in a group of individuals to the number of deaths that would have been expected if some selected age (or sex) specific mortality rates has been applied to that group. This ratio is usually multiplied by 100 and is most frequently used to compare the mortality experience of a segment of a population with the mortality that would be expected on the basis of the experience of the whole population.

question

Surveillance:

answer

The ongoing observation of trends in disease incidence through systematic collection, collation, analysis, and evaluation of morbidity and mortality statistics.

question

Validity:

answer

The closeness with which a measurement approaches the true or actual value.

Epidemiology Definitions – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards