Behavioural Science - Epidemiology & Biostatistics Flashcards
A case control study is described as _____ (experimental/observational) and _____ (prospective/retrospective).
Observational ; retrospective
A cohort study is described as _____ (experimental/observational) and _____ (prospective/retrospective).
Observational ; prospective
What type of epidemiologic study selects subjects on the basis of the presence or absence of disease?
A case control study; subjects with the disease are the cases and those without are the controls
What type of epidemiologic study reports an odds ratio in its conclusions?
Case control study
What type of measure does a case control study use to report its conclusions?
Odds ratio
True or False? In a cohort study, the subjects are chosen on the basis of the presence or absence of risk factors.
True
True or False? In a cohort study, the subjects are chosen on the basis of the presence or absence of disease.
False ; subjects are chosen on the basis of presence of absence of risk factors
True or False? A cohort study follows subjects over a period of time to study the development of disease.
True
What type of epidemiologic study selects subjects on the basis of their exposure to risk factors?
Cohort study
What type of epidemiologic study follows subjects over time to study the development of disease?
Cohort study
What type of epidemiologic study reports relative risk as an outcome measure?
Cohort study
What type of measure does a cohort study use to report its conclusions?
Relative risk
What type of research study is defined as a collection of data from a group of people to assess the frequency of disease (and related risk factors) at a certain point in time?
Cross-sectional study
True or False? A cross-sectional research study can indicate disease prevalence.
True
True or False? A cross-sectional research study can show the correlation of a risk with a disease.
True ; however, it cannot show causality
What type of research study compares the frequency with which monozygotic twins develop a disease with how often it develops in dizygotic twins?
Twin concordance study
What aspect of risk for development of disease can be assessed with a twin concordance study?
Heritability of a disease
What type of research study compares the frequency with which siblings raised in different homes develop a trait or disease?
Adoption study
What does an adoption study measure?
Influence of genes and environment on traits and diseases
Patients with COPD had higher odds of a history of smoking than those without COPD is an example of _____ (odds ratio/relative risk).
Odds ratio
Smokers had a higher risk of developing COPD than did nonsmokers is an example of _____ (odds ratio/relative risk).
Relative risk
Are clinical trials experimental or observational studies?
Experimental
What type of epidemiologic study compares the therapeutic benefits of different treatment conditions or of treatment and placebo?
Clinical trial
What three features can be introduced into the design of a clinical trial to enhance the quality of the study?
It can be randomised, controlled and double-blinded
What is the study population for a phase I clinical trial?
Small number of healthy volunteers
Among whom is a phase III clinical trial performed?
A larger number of patients with the disease of interest randomly assigned to either the treatment under investigation or the best available treatment (or placebo)
What is the purpose of a phase I clinical trial?
To establish the safety, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of a new treatment
What is the purpose of a phase II clinical trial?
To establish the safe/efficacious dosing of a new treatment, as well as possible adverse effects
What feature of a study can make a phase III clinical trial more convincing?
Making the trial double-blinded, so that neither the patient nor the investigator knows if the patient is in the treatment or control group
True or False? A clinical trial is a type of observational study.
False ; a clinical trial is a type of experimental study
True or False? A clinical trial can compare the therapeutic benefits of two or more treatments or of a treatment and a placebo
True
What is the purpose of a phase III clinical trial?
To compare the new treatment with existing treatment and determine whether the treatment will be approved for use
What are two factors that may limit the reliability of a meta-analysis?
The quality of the individual studies or bias in the selection of studies for analysis
What type of epidemiologic study pools data from several published studies to achieve greater statistical power?
Meta-analysis
True or False? A meta-analysis is the highest echelon of clinical evidence.
True
Given that predictive values of a test for a disease are dependent on the prevalence of the disease, how does a low prevalence of disease affect the positive predictive value of the test?
The positive predictive value of the test is lower for a disease with a lower prevalence
True or False? Positive and negative predictive values of a test for a disease depend on the prevalence of the disease in the population being tested.
True
Given that predictive values of a test for a disease depend on the prevalence of the disease, how does a high prevalence of disease affect the positive predictive value of the test?
The positive predictive value of the test is higher for a disease with higher prevalence
If a diagnostic test has 100% sensitivity, what should the value of the false-negative rate equal?
The value of the false-negative rate should be equal to 0; all cases of the disease are detected by the test
If a diagnostic test has 100% specificity, what should the value of the false-positive rate equal?
The value of the false-positive rate should be equal to 0; all patients without the disease are correctly identified
In HIV testing, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay screening is _____ (sensitive/specific) and has a high false-_____ (negative/positive) rate, with a _____ (high/low) threshold.
Sensitive ; positive ; low
In HIV testing, Western blot testing is _____ (sensitive/specific) and has a high false-_____ (negative/positive) rate, with a _____ (high/low) threshold.
Specific ; negative ; high
How is the sensitivity of a test determined?
Sensitivity is the number of cases correctly identified by a test divided by the total number of cases of the disease
What epidemiologic measurement is equal to the probability of a positive test (given that a person has the disease)?
Sensitivity
Given the sensitivity of a test for a particular disease, how is the false-negative rate calculated?
False-negative rate = 1 – sensitivity
Should the sensitivity of a screening test be high or low?
High
True or False? A screening test is a good method for ruling out a diagnosis, because it is a test with high sensitivity.
True (SNOUT = SeNsitivity rules OUT)
How is the specificity of a test determined?
Specificity is the number of correctly identified patients without the disease divided by the total number of those without the disease
What epidemiologic measurement is equal to the probability of a negative test (given that a person is free of the disease)?
Specificity
Given the specificity of a test for a particular disease, how is the false-positive rate calculated?
False-positive rate = 1 – specificity
For a confirmatory test, should the specificity of the test be high or low?
High
True or False? A confirmatory test is an appropriate method for ruling in a diagnosis, because it is a test with high specificity.
True (SPIN = SPecificity rules IN)
How is the positive predictive value of a test determined?
Positive predictive value is the number of true positive results divided by the total number of positive results
When calculating the positive predictive value of a test for a disease, what is the number of true positives divided by?
The number of people who tested positive for the disease
What epidemiologic measurement is equal to the probability of having a condition (given a positive test)?
Positive predictive value
How is negative predictive value of a test determined?
Negative predictive value is the number of true negative results divided by the total number of negative results
When calculating the negative predictive value of a test for a disease, what is the number of true negatives divided by?
The number of people who tested negative for the disease
What epidemiologic measurement is equal to the probability of not having the condition (given a negative test)?
Negative predictive value
Given that predictive values of a test for a disease are dependent on the prevalence of the disease, how does a high prevalence of disease affect the negative predictive value of the test?
The negative predictive value of the test is lower for a disease with a higher prevalence
Given that predictive values of a test for a disease are dependent on the prevalence of the disease, how does a low prevalence of disease affect the negative predictive value of the test?
The negative predictive value of the test is higher for a disease with a lower prevalence
In HIV testing, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is used as a screening test. Is a high sensitivity or high specificity ideal for this purpose?
Sensitivity
In HIV testing, the Western blot is used to confirm an initial screening test. Is a high sensitivity or specificity ideal for this purpose?
Specificity
In epidemiology, what measure of disease frequency is calculated by dividing the total number of cases in the population at a given time by the total population at risk?
Point prevalence
In epidemiology, what measure of disease frequency is calculated by dividing the number of new cases in the population during a given time period by the total population at risk during that time?
Incidence (Incidence is new incidents)
To estimate the prevalence of a disease, the incidence of the disease is multiplied by what factor?
The disease duration
In chronic disease states such as diabetes, is the prevalence of disease greater than, less than, or equal to the incidence?
Prevalence is much greater than annual incidence because of the long duration of the disease
In acute disease states such as a common cold, is the prevalence of disease greater than, less than, or equal to the incidence?
Incidence and prevalence are approximately equal for diseases of short duration
True or False? When calculating the incidence of a disease, people who were previously positive for the disease are no longer considered to be at risk.
True