Epidemiology MIDTERM p.1

Which of the following are considered vital events? (select all that apply)

Deaths Marriages Divorces

Epidemiology is a qualitative discipline that requires data for descriptive and analytic studies.

False

In the United States, mortality data does not have a high degree of completeness.

False

In a ratio, the numerator and denominator do not necessarily have a specific relationship.

True

Incidence and prevalence are interrelated concepts.

True

It is possible for a single case of a disease to represent an epidemic.

True

Life expectancy refers to the number of years that a person is expected to live, at any particular year.

True

Lifetime prevalence refers to all cases of a disease diagnosed at any time during a person's lifetime.

True

Rates can be expressed in terms of any unit size of population that is convenient.

True

Registries can be used to select cases for case-control studies.

True

The major strength of reportable and notifiable data for epidemiologic research purposes is the completeness of population coverage.

False

True or False? A cross-sectional study is a type of incidence study.

False

True or False? A necessary cause is sufficient by itself to produce the effect

False

True or False? Case series are accounts of a single occurrence of a noteworthy health-related incident.

False

True or False? Descriptive epidemiology characterizes health according to person, place, and age.

False

True or False? One-to-one causation is common because many diseases have one causal factor

False

True or False? The example of meningoencephalitis associated with amoeba (PAM) illustrates a case report.

False

Whooping cough is an example of a nationally notifiable disease

False

On May 1, 2010, the number of residents of Oklahoma who had been diagnosed with asthma at any time during their life was A. The population on June 30, 2010, was B. During the same year, the number of new cases of asthma was C. Which of the following expressions represents the point prevalence (percentage) of asthma?

(A/B) × 100

On May 1, 2010, the number of residents of Oklahoma who had been diagnosed with asthma at any time during their life was A. The population on June 30, 2010, was B. During the same year, the number of new cases of asthma was C. Which of the following expressions represents the incidence rate of asthma (per 100,000)?

(C/B) × 100,000

Theory of Contagion

16th century poet, physician, and mathematician Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that infections are caused by transferable seed-like beings

Which of the following measures helps to make comparisons across age groups?

Age-specific rates

Descriptive epidemiology provides information for:

All of these are correct

Some examples of surveillance systems include those for:

All of these are correct

Variations in infectious and chronic diseases from one country to another may be attributed to:

All of these are correct

What factors may be considered when measuring socioeconomic status?

All of these are correct

Death certificate data in the United States include which of the following?

All of these are correct.

Epidemiologic measures provide the following type of information:

All of these are correct.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS):

All of these are correct.

Identify the correct statement:

An r of +1 is a perfect direct linear association.

Shows the frequency of cases for categories of a discrete variable

Bar Graph

Selecting a group like a city block for sampling

Cluster Sampling

A range of values that with a certain degree of probability contain the population parameter is known as a:

Confidence Interval Estimate

"Grab bag" samples

Convenience Sampling

What is one of the first steps in presenting data after they have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness?

Count and tabulate cases

Increases and decreases in the frequency of a disease within a year or over a period of several years are known as:

Cyclic Trends

Which of the following is considered a key characteristic of epidemiology?

Distribution Population focus Quantification **ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT

He developed a method for smallpox vaccination in 1796 when he noticed dairymaids infected with cowpox were immune to this scourge.

Edward Jenner

The occurrence in a community or region of cases of an illness, specific health behavior, or other health-related events clearly in excess of normal expectancy is known as which of the following?

Epidemic

Adjusted rates pertain only to mortality rates.

False

Epidemiologic methods can be applied to which of the following public health-related fields?

Health education Healthcare administration Environmental health **ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT

When a notifiable disease is identified, the ________________ reports to the ________________ which reports to the _________________ which reports to the ___________________ which then reports to the _________________.

Healthcare provider; Local health department; State health department; CDC; WHO

This greek authority made the first epidemiological statement when he departed from superstitious reasons and suggested disease might be associated with environmental factors.

Hippocrates

Shows the frequency of cases for categories of a continuous variable

Histogram

John Snow, a seminal figure in the field of epidemiology, made his mark by:

Identifying contaminated water as the cause of a cholera outbreak in London

Witchcraft, demons, and gods

In classical times, people were mystified by diseases and these were the earliest explanations

Continuous data with equal spaces between points on the measurement scale AND without a true zero point

Interval

Miasma

In the middle ages, the prevailing theory of disease transmission was an airborne toxic vapor composed of malodorous particles from decomposing fetid materials.

The process of passing from observations and axioms to generalizations is known as

Inference

Used to display trends such as time

Line Graph

Germ Theory

Louis Pasteur is credited for our modern understanding since he linked microorganisms to the causation of disease.

For both males and females, what type of cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality?

Lung and bronchus cancer

This measure of central tendency is considered the most accurate but is greatly affected by outliers.

Mean

With respect to derivation of hypotheses, a type of association in which the frequency of an outcome increases with the frequency of exposure to a factor is known as:

Method of Concomitant Variation

With respect to derivation of hypothesis, a situation in which all of the factors in two or more domains are the same except for a single factor is known as:

Method of Difference

This measure of central tendency is considered the least accurate but the only one that can be used on nominal variables.

Mode

Which of the following sources could be used for determining life expectancy?

National Vital Statistics System

Qualitative scale that consists of categories that are not ordered such as race, religion

Nominal

The process of defining measurement procedures for the variables used in a study is

Operationalization

Categorical data that can be ordered such as SES, level of education, likert scale

Ordinal

An outbreak occurring worldwide or crossing international boundaries is known as which of the following?

Pandemic

The founder of toxicology also had this outstanding full name: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim.

Paracelsus

Shows case frequencies in proportional sizes

Pie Chart

Continous data that has a true zero point

Ratio

Which of the following are miscellaneous data sources? (select all that apply)

School health records Armed forces records

Representativeness, or external validity, refers to the generalizability of the findings to the population from which the data have been taken.

True

Gradual changes in the frequency of diseases over long periods are known as:

Secular Trends

Picking a name from a hat

Simple Random Sampling

Which statement about crude and age-adjusted rates is true?

Since 1980, the age-adjusted death rate in the United States has declined more steeply than the crude death rate.

The most deadly epidemiological event in history was the:

Spanish Flu

Effective when an epidemiologist wants to investigate subgroups

Stratified Random Sampling

Picking every 10th name on a list

Systematic Sampling

For which of the following criteria do epidemiologists need to observe the cause before the effect?

Temporality

Hill's criteria of causality included which of the following?

Temporality Analogy Strength **ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT

Environmental Influences

The Greek philosopher Hippocrates argued that these factors are associated with diseases

The cycle of epidemiologic research includes which of the following categories?

Theory Hypothesis Operationalization **ALL OF THE ABOVE

Spontaneous Generation

This theory postulated that simple life forms could arise automatically from nonliving materials

Which of the following is NOT considered a use of epidemiology?

To provide healthcare services to specific individuals

Birth statistics include statistics on both live births and fetal deaths.

True

By law, physicians and other healthcare providers must report cases of certain diseases, known as reportable and notifiable diseases, to health authorities.

True

Comparisons among populations that differ in size cannot be accomplished directly by using frequency or prevalence data.

True

Epidemiology is an observational science that capitalizes on naturally occurring situations.

True

Epidemiology is concerned with the distribution and determinants of health and diseases, morbidity, injuries, disability, and mortality in populations.

True

The U.S. Bureau of the Census provides information that is useful for defining the denominator in rates.

True

The World Health Organization and the European Union are two examples of organizations that provide international and foreign data regarding diseases and health.

True

The closer the points lie on a scatter plot, with respect to the straight line of best fit through them, the stronger the association between the variables.

True

The general fertility rate refers to the number of live births reported in an area during a given time interval divided by the number of women age 15 to 44 years in the area.

True

The infant mortality rate is defined as the number of infant deaths among infants age 0 to 1 year divided by the number of live births during the same year.

True

The maternal mortality rate encompasses maternal deaths that result from causes associated with pregnancy.

True

True or False? A noncausal association is one that may be due to chance or random factors

True

True or False? Assignment of some individuals to a particular racial classification on the basis of observed characteristics may be difficult.

True

True or False? Cross-sectional studies measure relationships between diseases and other variables at a particular time.

True

True or False? One objective of descriptive epidemiology is to evaluate trends in health and disease in order to monitor known diseases and identify emerging problems.

True

True or False? The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an example of an ongoing cross-sectional study.

True

True or False? The causes of morbidity and mortality differ according to the stage of life.

True

True or False? The overriding question that epidemiologists ask is whether a particular exposure is causally associated with a given outcome

True

True or False? The word association refers to a link between or among variables

True

True or False? Those who occupy the lowest socioeconomic positions have excesses of morbidity and mortality from various causes.

True

Multimodal distributions can reflect age-related:

changes in immune status. changes in lifestyle. operation of latency effects. **ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT

Any factor that brings about change in a health condition or other defined characteristic is known as a(n):

determinant.

Variation in the occurrence of diseases and other health outcomes in populations relates most closely to:

distribution.

The sense of identity that individuals draw from a common ancestry, as well as a common national, religion, tribal, language, or cultural origin, is referred to as __________________.

ethnicity

Contact with a disease-causing factor or to the amount of the factor that impinges upon a group or individuals is known as a(n):

exposure.

The death of a fetus when it is in the uterus and before it has been delivered is known as:

fetal mortality.

The number of live births reported in an area during a given time interval divided by the number of women age 15 to 44 is known as the:

general fertility rate.

Differences in the occurrence of diseases and adverse health conditions in the population are known as:

health disparities

Illness due to a specific disease or health condition is known as:

morbidity.

The web of causation model specifies a type of causal relationship that is

multi-factorial

Any of the possible results that may stem from exposure to a causal factor is known as a(n):

outcome.

The number of late fetal deaths after 28 weeks or more gestation plus infant deaths within 7 days of birth divided by the number of live births plus late fetal deaths during a year is the:

perinatal mortality rate.

Urban diseases and causes of mortality are more likely to be those associated with:

person-to-person contact

The systematic and continuous gathering of information about the occurrence of diseases and other health phenomena is known as

public health surveillance.

Occupational classification is an example of:

qualitative data

Even the US Census Bureau recently admitted that ___________________ is an imaginary sociopolitical construct with no basis in biology or anthropology but instead a way to classify individuals according to their physical characteristics.

race

Monitoring cancer trends in the U.S. population over time is a major application of:

registries.

A method for providing quantitative measurements of risks to health is known as:

risk assessment.

Using health-related data that precede diagnosis and signal a sufficient probability of a case or an outbreak to warrant further public health response is known as:

syndromic surveillance.

Epidemiologic methods are applicable to

the development of needs assessments, the design of prevention programs, the formulation of public health policies **ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT

Those members of the population who are capable of developing a disease or condition are known as:

the population at risk.

All of the following are considered ratios except:

time