Epidemiology Flashcards
How else can a discrete variable be categorised?
Count variable (i.e red cell count)
Which type of study would be the most appropriate to test the effect of a new statin on the incidence of coronary heart disease in patients with diabetes?
Randomised control trial
Which of the following methods cannot be used to compare the proportions in two sets of observations?
T test (difference between the two means)
What is prevalence?
How common a disease or condition occurs at a given time.
Prevalence calculation
(Number of diseased persons)/(Number of persons in the population) = Prevalence
What is relative risk?
The relative risk (RR) or risk ratio is the ratio of the probability of an outcome in an exposed group to the probability of an outcome in an unexposed group.
What is absolute risk?
Absolute risk of a disease is your risk of developing the disease over a time period.
What is incidence?
Probability to develop the disease in a very small time interval
What is the observation period?
Observation period is the time from the start of the observation until the moment he/she develops disease.
How are incidence and prevalence correlated?
Incidence is positively correlated with prevalence
Types of observational studies
Case report Case series Cross-sectional (prevalence) Case control (retrospective) Cohort (prospective)
Types of experimental studies
Interventional, RCTs
What is a case report?
Study of one individual with a disease, timely or rare information
What is a case series?
Study of several patients with similar symptoms. May lead to general hypothesis. No controls.
What is a cross sectional study?
Measures exposure and disease in study group at one time point (“snapshot”).
Frequently takes the form of survey, (e.g. questions about diagnosed coronary heart disease, family history, diet).
What is a cohort study?
Examines one or more health effects of exposure to a specific factor.
Subjects are defined according to their exposure status and followed over time to determine their health outcomes.
What is a case-control study?
Individuals who have the disease of interest are in a ‘case’ group, their exposure to specific factors are compared to a ‘control’ group from the same population sample
What is an ecological study?
Evaluates an association using the population rather than the individual as the unit of analysis. The rates of disease are examined in relation to factors described on the population level.
Two types of cohort studies?
Prospective, and retrospective
Prospective cohort study?
Exposure groups are followed into the future in order to observe the outcomes
Retrospective cohort study?
Both the exposures and outcomes have already occurred when the study begins.
What can RCTs calculate from results?
A risk
Can case control studies calculate risk?
No