Epidemiology Key Concepts

Question 1

what is a case series

Answer 1

A series, often consecutive, of cases with the same disease

Question 2

what isa scatter plot used for

Answer 2

• Scatter plot used to test association of exposures and outcomes
• Exposures = Inequality (Robin Hood Index)
• Outcomes = Mortality

Question 3

Age

Answer 3

• a confounder as it varies between states & affect mortality rates

Question 4

Limitations of “crude” rates

Answer 4

number of new cases (or deaths) occurring in a specified population per year
Of limited value when comparing two populations with different structures.
Two populations with the same crude rates for a particular outcome (e.g. death) will have different overall rates if the distribution of a confounder within the populations (e.g. age) are different.

Question 5

Standardisation

Answer 5

A set of techniques, based on weighted averaging, used to remove as much as possible the effects of differences in age or other confounding variables in comparing two or more populations

Question 6

confounding

Answer 6

the distortion of a measure of the effect of an exposure on an outcome due to the association of the exposure with other factors that influence the occurrence of the outcome.

Question 7

Can deal with confounding

Answer 7

– Study design

– Data analysis (e.g. standardisation)

Question 8

Bias

Answer 8

An error in the conception and design of a study – or in the collection, analysis, interpretation, reporting, publication, or review of data – leading to results or conclusions that are systematically (as opposed to randomly) different from truth

Question 9

Bias leads to wrong conclusions about

Answer 9

– Disease causation

– Treatment effectiveness

Question 10

Criteria for Causality

Answer 10

strength
consistency 
specificity 
temporality 
Biological gradient
plausibility 
coherence 
experiment 
analogy