Epidemiology of Coronary Artery Disease

Question 1

What is epidemiology?

Answer 1

Study of distribution and determinants of health related events in specified populations

Question 2

Describe the determinants of health? The rainbow model

Answer 2

Individual lifestyle factors, social and community factors and the general socio-economic, cultural and environment factors.

Question 3

What is mortality?

Answer 3

The number of deaths in a given area or period

Question 4

Define morbidity?

Answer 4

rate of disease in a population

Question 5

Define incidence

Answer 5

Number of new cases within a specific period of time

Question 6

Define prevalence

Answer 6

Total number of existing cases at given point of time

Question 7

Define Determinants

Answer 7

Any factor/characteristic/event that brings about a change in a health condition

Question 8

What is an ecological study?

Answer 8

Looks at geographical correlations between disease incidence and prevalence of risk factor.

Question 9

What is a cross sectional study?

Answer 9

Observational study that analyses data collected at a given point of time and shows an association between exposure and outcome.

Question 10

What is a surveillance study?

Answer 10

Observational study that involves continuous monitoring of disease occurrence within population.

Question 11

What is a cohort study?

Answer 11

A study where a particular outcome is compared in groups of people who have slightly different characteristics. It looks to determines suspected causes of outcome.

Question 12

What is a case-control study

Answer 12

Outcome has already occurred, then comparing potential risk factors between patients with/without outcome.

Question 13

What are the advantages and disadvantages of case control studies?

Answer 13

Advantages - Examine multiple exposures, quick and inexpensive and useful for rare outcomes.

Disadvantages - Can’t calculate incidence rates, inefficient for rare exposures.

Question 14

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cohort studes?

Answer 14

Advantages - Useful for rare exposures, can examine multiple outcomes and bias can be minimized.

Disadvantages - Can be expensive and time consuming which makes them ineffective for rare outcomes

Question 15

What are some issues with cross sectional studies?

Answer 15

Impossible to tell if outcome developed before or after exposure.

Question 16

Define reliability

Answer 16

The reproducibility of measurements. The consistency of a measure

Question 17

Define validity?

Answer 17

To what extent a test measures what it is intended to measure.

Question 18

What are the main two causes of death in Scotland?

Answer 18

Cancer, followed by cardiovascular disease.

Question 19

What is the link between deprivation and cardiovascular disease?

Answer 19

Places of high deprivation have more prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

Question 20

What are some modifiable and non modifiable risk factors?

Answer 20

Non-modifiable = Age, sex, genetic factors.

Modifiable - Personal = smoking, diet, exercise, obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Environmental = Deprivation, income, employment, education, housing and air quality.

Question 21

What is the prevention paradox?

Answer 21

Shows interventions can achieve large overall health gains for whole population but small advantages to individuals.

Question 22

What does the bell-curve shift show?

Answer 22

That it is more beneficial to shift whole population into lower risk category than shifting high risk individuals into lower risk.