104

Question 1

What does PICO stand for?

Answer 1

P - Population

I - Intervention

C - Comparable intervention or patient population

O - Outcomes of interest

Question 2

What does IMRaD stand for and what is it used for?

Answer 2

IMRaD is a structured way of organizing a scientific article

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Question 3

What is a cohort study (prospective observational study?

Answer 3

People who have a condition OR receive a particular treatment are compared over time with another group of people who are not affected by the condition.

Question 4

What is a case-control study?

Answer 4

This is done backwards - they look at people who have a known disease, and try to work backwards to determine what they have in common that might have caused the disease

(retrospective!)

Question 5

What is a cross-sectional study?

Answer 5

Observation of a defined population at a single point in time - key point is the single point in time

Question 6

What is case reports and series?

Answer 6

Reports on series of patient with outcome of interest, but not compared with any other groups.

Question 7

Define the following biases or heuristics:

Anchoring

Availability

Substitution

Optimism and loss aversion

Framing

Sunk-cost

Answer 7

anchoring - influenced by irrelevant numbers (did he die over 115 vs over 35, people say higher numbers because the first number was higher)

availability - if you can think of an example, it means you think the probability of the thing happening is higher

substitution - complicated question replaced with simpler one, causes sterotypes and overpaying for things

Optimism and loss aversion - we underestimate cost of kitchen remodel, so we take on risky projects

Frame bias - How the question is asked can influence your decision - surgery that 90% successful or 10% fatal (postive vs negative semantics in the question)

Sunk-cost - too much invested to quit, trying to avoid guilt

Question 8

Define evidence based medicine

Answer 8

Care of patients using the best available research eveidence to guide clinical decision making.

Question 9

What is the hierarchy of evidence?

Answer 9

1) Meta-analysis
2) RCT with definitive results
3) RCT with non-definitive results
4) Cohort
5) Case control
6) Cross sectional surveys
7) Case reports

Question 10

Define the following terms:

Parallel group comparison

Paired (or matched) comparison

Within subject comparison

Single blinded

Double blinded

Crossover

Placebo controlled

Factorial design

Answer 10

Parallel group comparison - each group gets different treatment and results are measured by group

Paired (or matched) comparison - each subject is given different treatment, but the subjects are matched in terms of things like age, sex etc to try and eliminate differences and the differences between the subjects outcomes is measured

Within subject comparison - Assessed before and after intervention and the change in the subject is evaluated

Single blind - subjects don’t know treatment

Double blind - Neither subject nor investigators know the treatment

Crossover - Subjects receive both treatment and control (with gap in middle)

Placebo controlled - Control subjects receive placebo that looks/tastes same as treatment

Factorial design - Testing two treatment/variables in one study