Epidemiology Flashcards
Prevalence
Fraction (proportion) of a group of people that have/manifest a clinical condition at a given point in time
Incidence
The fraction of a group initially free of disease that develops it over a given period of time
Retrospective
Case-control studies are _____
Prospective
Cohort studies are ______
Case-control studies
Subjects are selected on the basis of whether they do or do not have a particular disease or outcome of interests. Compared for their exposure or risk factor history
Pros of case-control study
- Long latency periods
- Inexpensive
- Optimal for evaluation of rare diseases or rare outcome
- Can examine multiple risk factors for a single disease or outcome
Cons of case-control study
Particularly prone to biases and confounding (statisical association but not true cause and effect)
Inefficient for the evaluation of rare EXPOSURES
Selection bias
Present when individuals have different probabilities of being included in the study sample according to relevant study characteristics; most often the exposure and outcome of interest
Information bias
Results from a systematic tendency for individuals selected for inclusion in the study to be erroneously place in different exposure/outcome categories, thus leading to misclassification
(a/c)/ (b/d) (outcome and exposure/outcome no exposure)/(no outcome and exposure/no outcome and no exposure)
Odds ratio, shows strength of association
Odds ratio
Means that the ratio of exposure for people with disease to people without is x. Equals relative risk if a rare outcome
Case control questions
- Was there a pre-specified hypothesis defining a relationship between an exposure and an outcome?
- Were the exposure and health outcome clearly and operationally defined?
- Was the control group appropriate? (from base population)
- Was the measurement of exposure both in cases and controls accurate and unbiased?
- Was the measurement of outcome both in casea and controls accurate and unbiased?
- Were the important confounding variables accounted for and controlled for in the statistical analysis?
Cohort study
Cohort is defined, exposure status is determined, follow prospectively over time, identify development of disease/outcome, compare incidence of disease in two groups
identify cohort in cohort study
- Select defined population before exposures are identified
or 2. Create a study populatoin by selecting participants based on exposure
all participants (exposed and un) must be at risk for developing the outcome of interest
Incidence
A/ (A +B) or (outcome and exposed)/ all exposed
C/ (C +D) or (outcome and unexposed)/all unexposed
Relative risk
Ratio of risk (incidence) of disease in exposed persons to risk in unexposed persons
measure of association
(A/ (A +B)) / (C/(C+D))
Relative risk equation
AR = (Incidence Ex - Incidence UnEx)/ Incidence Ex
Attributable risk equation
Advantages of cohort studies
- Can determine temporal sequence, identify natural history of disease
- assessing multiple outcomes after a single exposure
- identify incidence and RR
- Reduces or eliminates recall bias
Disadvantages of cohort studies
- Can be inefficient and costly, esp for rare diseases or with long history
- Attrition/loss to follow up (bias to exposed vs unexposed)
- Selection bias
Equipoise, efficacy, effectiveness
Three E’s of RCT
Randomized Controlled Trials
Gold Standard, removes selection bias and benefit seen is less likely to be due to confounding or other biases. More likely a true association
Equipoise
Term to describe state of equilibrium in which two sides are balanced. Only ethical to do a RCT is you don’t know which treatment is better
Phase 1
Initial human trials, small sample (1-100), healthy volunteers with no comparison group
Evaluate safety (adverse effects, max dose, treatment mechanism)
Primary goal of Phase 1 trial
Phase 2
Expanded human trials, small sample (100s), patients with disease, comparator group
Expanded safety, efficacy, optimal dosing and duration
Goals of Phase 2 trials
Phase 3
Randomized Controlled Trial, large sample (100-1000s) with disease and comparator group. Expensive and costly