EBH Flashcards
What is the James Lind Alliance and what is it used for?
- non profit organization
- used for identifying research priorities (prioritizes the top 10 unanswered questions)
How is the target population derived?
from eligibility criteria
How is the accessible population derived?
from the target population + limited by TIME and GEOGRAPHY
The accessible population is a subset of the target population. How is the accessible population derived?
Limited by TIME and GEOGRAPHY
What are the 2 MAIN subgroups of studies?
- Intervention
2. Observational`
What are the 2 main subtypes of Observational Studies?
- Analytic (has comparison group)
2. Descriptive (no comparison group)
What are the 2 types of descriptive studies?
- Cohort Study
2. Cross-Sectional Study
List the 4 different types of measurement scales
- Numeric
- Ordinal
- Nominal
- Dichotomous
What is an ordinal scale?
It is used to measure a relative quantity (e.g. a patient’s severity of pain or quality of life)
List 3 examples of ordinal scales that are used to measure PAIN
- Verbal Descriptor Scale
- Wong-Baker Facial Grimace Scale
- Activity Tolerance Scale
List 2 types of graphs that frequencies (frequency data) can be presented on
- Stacked Histogram
2. Bar Chart/Graph
Dot plots can be used to display data if 2 conditions are met. What are the 2 conditions?
- Continous scale
- Small amounts of data
If there are larger data sets, there will be too many dots and so we rely more on summaries
What is another name for a quantile?
a percentile
What is the percentile of the median?
50th percentile
List 2 summary measures that are ROBUST
- Median
2. Interquartile Range
List 2 summary measures that are NOT ROBUST
- Mean
2. Range
What is the definition of variance?
The average of the squared differences from the mean
How is standard deviation calculated?
it is the square root of the variance
What is the definition of skewness?
an excess of low or high values
What is the definition of Point Prevalence?
the proportion of persons w/ a particular disease or attribute on a SPECIFIC date
e.g. how many people have the disease?
What is the formula for point prevalence? (i.e. how do you calculate the point prevalence?)
(Number of Cases) / (Total Number of People at Risk at that Point in Time)
What is the definition of Period Prevalence?
the proportion of persons w/ a particular disease or attribute within a SPECIFIED TIME PERIOD
What is the formula for period prevalence? (i.e. how do you calculate the period prevalence?)
(Number of Cases at Any Time in the Study Period) / (Total Number of People at Risk at the Start of the Study Period)
What is the prevalence useful for? (what is it used to determine?)
- tells us the burden of disease
- useful for measuring the demand for health services
How is the cumulative incidence calculated?
(# of new cases) / (total # of people at risk)
[this is all during a designated time period]
What is the advantage and disadvantage of cumulative incidence?
Advantage: tells you how many patients will emerge over time
Disadvantage: not useful for conditions that may happen repeatedly to the same person
What is the incidence density? How is it calculated?
Incidence Density: incidence rate; tells us the rate of events per person-time (usually per person-year)
= (# of new cases) / (total person-time at risk)
What is the main advantage of calculating incidence density rather than cumulative incidence?
it is useful for diseases that recur
Do short-lasting diseases have a high or low prevalence?
low prevalences (e.g. the common cold)
Do long-lasting diseases have a high or low prevalence?
high prevalences (e.g. angina, HIV/AIDS)
List 2 values that can be used to evaluate a SCREENING test
- Sensitivity
2. Specificity
Sensitivity can be used to evaluate screening tests. What is sensitivity?
it is the percentage of people WITH the problem who are correctly identified by the test
Specificity can be used to evaluate screenings tests. What is specificity?
it is the percentage of people WITHOUT the disease who are correctly identified by the test
How is sensitivity calculated?
Sensitivity = (True Positive) / (All People with the Disease)
How is specificity calculated?
Specificity = (True Negative) / (All People without the Disease)
List 2 values that can be used to evaluate a DIAGNOSTIC test
- Positive Predictive Value
2. Negative Predictive Value
What is the positive predictive value and how is it calculated?
PPV: the percentage of all positive tests that are true positive tests
PPV = True Positive / All Positive Tests
What is the negative predictive value and how is it calculated?
NPV: the perventage of all negative tests that are true negative tests
NPV = True Negative / All Negative Tests
What is another name for the Relative Risk?
Risk Ratio
What is the general formula for calculating the Risk Ratio?
RR = (Incidence of Disease in EXPOSED Group) / (Incidence of Disease in UNEXPOSED Group)
How is the Incidence Rate Ratio calculated? (what is the formula?)
IRR = (Incidence Density in EXPOSED Group) / (Incidence Density in UNEXPOSED Group)
To calculate the relative risk, you need to know the….
Incidence
To calculate the relative risk, you need to know the incidence and this cannot be determined in which type of studies?
Case-Control Studies
What is the purpose of the Odds Ratio?
- it measures the association b/w exposure and outcome
- usually done when the incidence cannot be calculated
- it is a good approximation of the relative risk
For which studies (predominantly), is the prevalence ratio calculated for?
Cross-Sectional Studies
What is the formula for the Prevalence Ratio?
PR = (prevalence of outcome in EXPOSED group) / (prevalence of outcome in UNEXPOSED group)
predominantly used for Cross-Sectional Studies
What is the formula for the Relative Risk Reduction?
1 - Relative Risk
What is the Risk Difference (definition)?
Risk Difference: the difference b/w the risk of an outcome in the exposed group vs the unexposed group
- can be calculated using either the cumulative incidence or incidence density
- unit = PER PERSON YEARS
How can the Risk Difference be calculated?
Risk Difference = (Incidence in EXPOSED Group) - (Incidence in UNEXPOSED Group)
can be calculated with either cumulative incidence or incidence density
What unit is used for Risk Difference?
per person years
How can the Number Needed to Treat (NNT) be calculated? (most likely/common method?)
NNT = 1 / (risk difference)
Note: for NNT, always round up
The relative risk (risk ratios) can be calculated for what type(s) of studies?
- Cohort Studies
2. Intervention Studies (e.g. RCT)
What measure of exposure effect (e.g ratio) can be calculated from a CASE-CONTROL study?
Odds Ratio
What are the 2 types of error?
- Random Error = by chance
2. Systematic Error = bias
What is precision? (give the definition in regards to random error)
Precision is the lack of random error (therefore values fall within a narrow range of values)
Does a smaller or larger sample size reduce the random error?
A larger sample size reduces the random error and gives you a more PRECISE estimate
To get an ACCURATE estimate of values, what is required of the sample population?
the sample should be REPRESENTATIVE
List the 2 types of error that can arise during the selection of participants in a study
- Sampling Error - random error simply due to chance
2. Selection Bias - arising from a non-representative sampling method