Chapter 5 - Epidemiologic Principles & Methods

Question 1

Disease is a broad term, so what’s an easier way to define it?

Answer 1

Health outcome

Question 2

Frequency

Answer 2

The number of cases

Question 3

How do you yield a rate of frequency?

Answer 3

Number of cases / Size of population being studied or population at risk

Question 4

Incidence Rate

Answer 4

The rate of new cases of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time

Question 5

What does the incidence rate measure?

Answer 5

The probability of a healthy person in said population developing that disease during that time

Question 6

Prevalence Rate

Answer 6

The total number of cases existing in a defined population at a specific time

Question 7

How are prevalence rates generally measured?

Answer 7

With a survey

Question 8

Prevalence rates aren’t useful in epidemiologic studies… What are they useful for?

Answer 8

Assessing societal impact of a disease and planning for healthcare services

Question 9

Distribution

Answer 9

3 Main Aspects:

• Who has the disease? (age, sex, race, economic status)
• When? (Is incidence increasing, decreasing or stable? –> disease trends)
• Where? (countries, states, counties… urban vs. rural)

Question 10

Determinant

Answer 10

A factor that decisively affects stage nature or outcome of health

Question 11

What are some examples of determinants?

Answer 11

Social, economic, or physical environments

Question 12

Prospective Study

Answer 12

Epidemiologic study beginning in the present that monitors groups of people into the future, or they can start at a point in the past and look forward from there

Question 13

Retrospective Study

Answer 13

Epidemiologic study that looks into the past for causes of diseases from which people currently suffer

Question 14

Intervention Study

Answer 14

Epidemiologic experiments, usually done to test a new treatment for a disease or preventive measure

Question 15

Control Group

Answer 15

Group in an intervention study that is not exposed to what is being tested

Question 16

Placebo

Answer 16

Inactive substance similar in appearance to the drug/vaccine being tested. Given to the control group.

Question 17

Placebo Effect

Answer 17

Responding to the placebo as if it were the drug

Question 18

Each subject is assigned to the treatment or control at ________

Answer 18

Random

Question 19

Double-Blind

Answer 19

Both the doctor and the patient don’t know if the patient is getting the drug or the placebo

Question 20

Cohort Study

Answer 20

Following large numbers of people, who decide if they belong in the “exposed” group or the control group.
Tests to see if those who are “exposed” are more likely to develop a disease than those who aren’t “exposed”

Question 21

Relative Risk

Answer 21

The measure of the strength of association obtained by cohort me intervention studies; the ratio of the incidence rate for persons exposed to the factor to the incidence rate of for persons in the unexposed group

Question 22

What does a relative risk of 1.0 mean?

Answer 22

No association exists between the disease and exposure

Question 23

What does a relative risk of greater than 1.0 mean?

Answer 23

Increased risk from exposure

Question 24

What does a relative risk less than 1.0 mean?

Answer 24

Decreased risk from exposure

Question 25

Case Control Study

Answer 25

Epidemiologic study that starts with pkeople who are already I’ll and look back to determine their exposure

Question 26

What do you compare those with the disease with in a case control study?

Answer 26

Controls, or healthy people who match the cases s much as possible in age, sex, and other factors relevant to the disease

Question 27

What does a case control study estimate?

Answer 27

The strength of the association between exposure and disease with an odds ratio

Question 28

How do you calculate an odds ratio?

Answer 28

Exposed subjects (case group) / Nonexposed subjects (case group)
                        divided by
Exposed subjects (control group) / Nonexposed subjects (control group)

Question 29

Epidemiology is the study of __________ and _________ determinants of disease frequency in human populations.

Answer 29

distribution ; determinants