Epidemiology Research Flashcards

1
Q

What is epidemiology?

A

The study of distribution and determinants of a disease in a population

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2
Q

What are the goals of epidemiology research?

A
  1. To describe who gets the disease and when/where the disease occurs (distribution)
  2. To identify the risk factors of an increased probability of disease occurrence
  3. Prevent disease occurrence by modifying risk factors
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3
Q

What are the exceptions in epidemiology research?

A
  1. Who died and shouldn’t have
  2. Who survived and should’ve died
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4
Q

True or False?
Most epidemiology research is experimental.

A

False. Most epidemiology research is observational.

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5
Q

What is physical activity epidemiology focused on?

A
  1. The distribution and determinants of physical activity
  2. Associations with health-related outcomes
  3. Application of the studies to disease prevention and health promotion
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6
Q

What is the difference between epidemiology outcome and exposure?

A

Outcome = The reason why people do or do not do something
Exposure = The thing that give someone a disease

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7
Q

What information did we get from the Framingham Heart Study?

A
  1. Cigarette smoking, increased cholesterol, elevated BP and obesity increase the risk of heart disease
  2. Exercise and high HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) decrease heart disease risk
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8
Q

What cohort is the Framingham Heart study in and describe the first cohort.

A
  1. The 3rd cohort
  2. Mostly white participants
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9
Q

What the Harvard Alumni study help establish?

A

The relationship between physical activity and incidence of heart attacks.

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10
Q

What is the definition of distribution?

A

frequency and patterns for disease occurrence in a population.

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11
Q

What is the definition of frequency?

A

How often a disease occurs

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12
Q

What are the two types of frequency and their definitions?

A
  1. Prevalence - the number of people who have a disease at a particular point in time.
  2. Mortality/Incident Rate - the amount of deaths (mortality) or new cases (incidents)
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13
Q

What is the definition of patterns?

A

Characteristics related to a person, place, and time.

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14
Q

Give examples for the pattern characteristics.

A
  1. Person - age, sex, socioeconomic status
  2. Place - urban/rural, geographic differences
  3. Time - annual, seasonal
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15
Q

What is the definition of determinants?

A

Factors that change a characteristic

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16
Q

What role do determinants play in physical activity research?

A
  1. The goal is to determine if physical activity is/is not a determinant for some disease outcomes
  2. Determinants are also called risk factors
17
Q

What is the definition of associations?

A

relationships between physical activity and health-related outcomes (like correlations)

18
Q

True or false?
Associations show cause and effect.

A

False.

19
Q

What is the definition of application?

A

Putting your findings into practice (translation)

20
Q

What is the definition of observational studies?

A

Observing people living their lives and recording data with no control intervention

21
Q

What are the three types of epidemiology observational studies?

A
  1. Cross-sectional
  2. Case-control
  3. Cohort
22
Q

Describe a cross-sectional Study.

A
  1. This happens at one point in time
23
Q

Describe a Case Control Study.

A
  1. Also known as retrospective
  2. Have people with the disease (cases) and without (controls)
  3. Asked about risk factor through interview or questionnaire
24
Q

Describe a Cohort Study.

A
  1. Participants do NOT have the disease
  2. Following participants over time
  3. Seeing who gets the disease
  4. Comparing those with and without the disease
25
Q

What are the advantages of a cross-sectional study

A
  1. Quick and easy
  2. Can study multiple diseases and risk factors
  3. Can identify the prevalence of a disease
26
Q

What are the advantages of a Case-control study?

A
  1. More efficient with time and money
  2. Good for rare diseases
27
Q

What are the advantages of a Cohort study?

A
  1. Temporal sequence is defines (exposure to risk happens BEFORE disease)
  2. Good for rare RISK FACTORS
  3. Can look at multiple effects for a risk factor
28
Q

What are the disadvantages of a cross-sectional study?

A
  1. Unknown if the exposure to risk factor was before or after development of the disease
  2. Usually no randomization
  3. Not useful for rare diseases
  4. No cause and effect
29
Q

What are the disadvantages of a case-control study?

A
  1. Info is found after disease has been diagnosed
  2. Difficult to find appropriate control (must have similar demographics to cases)
  3. Recall bias (inconsistent accuracy)
  4. Selection bias (different characteristics)
  5. No cause and effect
30
Q

What are the disadvantages of a cohort study?

A
  1. Takes a lot of time and money
  2. Mortality (drop-outs)
  3. May not be good for rare diseases
31
Q

What is an odds ratio and how do you use it?

A
  1. How likely you are to get a disease
  2. Used in case-control studies with a ratio of
    a. 1 being no risk
    b. less than 1 = reduced risk
    c. more than 1 = greater risk
32
Q

What is relative risk and how do you use it?

A
  1. Estimates the exposure and disease relationship by using a ratio of those exposed and those not exposed
  2. Most common statistic in cohort studies
    a. 1.0 = no risk
    b. greater than 1.0 = increased risk
    c. less than 1.0 = reduced risk