Exam 1 Flashcards
The main measures of frequency in epidemiology are:
- Prevalence
- Incidence
- Tolerance
- Odds
- A and B
- Prevalence
- Incidence
The measure of frequency that is the best measure of risk in epidemiology is:
- Prevalence
- Cumulative Incidence
- Incidence Rate
- Tolerance
- B and C (both are excellent measures of risk)
Cumulative Incidence
An epidemiologist becomes aware of a possible cluster of cases of an infectious disease. In order to determine whether the cluster is actually an outbreak, the epidemiologist needs to know:
- The expected frequency and pattern of the infectious disease in her community
- Whether the people all have the same organism (e.g. bacteria or virus)
- Whether the hospital laboratory has recently changed their laboratory test for diagnosing the disease
- All of the above
All of the above
Considering the components of an outbreak investigation, which of the following is in the proper order (earliest to latest)?
- 1) Tabulate and orient data; 2) Communicate findings; 3) Define a case
- 1) Communicate findings; 2) Define a case; 3) Formulate and test hypothesis
- 1) Verify diagnosis & confirm outbreak; 2) Define a case; 3) Tabulate and orient data
- 1) Plan additional studies; 2) Define a case; 3) Verify the diagnosis & confirm outbreak
1) Verify diagnosis & confirm outbreak; 2) Define a case; 3) Tabulate and orient data
Compared to a case definition that includes only confirmed cases, a case definition that includes both confirmed cases and probable cases will usually have:
- A higher sensitivity
- A lower sensitivity
- A higher specificity
- None of the above
A higher sensitivity
Epidemiologists use procedures like genotyping, serotyping, whole genome sequencing, and similar methods to:
- Waste taxpayers’ money
- Confirm that the cases are infected with the same organisms (epidemiologically linked)
- Determine which type of epidemic best fits the epidemic curve
- Conduct statistical analyses
Confirm that the cases are infected with the same organisms (epidemiologically linked)
An outbreak that is transmitted from one person to another person is referred to as a:
- Common source point epidemic
- Common source continuous epidemic
- Common source intermittent epidemic
- Propagative epidemic
- Hot spot epidemic
Propagative epidemic
Key elements of strong hypotheses in an outbreak setting include:
- They are testable
- They are falsifiable
- They have never been used before
- A and C
- A and B
- All of the above
- They are testable
- They are falsifiable
In most circumstances, the measure of frequency appropriate for surveillance data is:
- Risk ratio
- Odds ratio
- Incidence rate
- Cumulative incidence
- Incidence rate
Incidence rate
In outbreak investigations, the term attack rate is another name for which measure of frequency?
- Risk ratio
- Odds ratio
- Incidence rate
- Cumulative incidence
- Incidence rate
Cumulative incidence
A = case control study
B = prospective cohort study
C = cross-sectional study
D = retrospective cohort study
You are conducting a prospective cohort study to investigate an outbreak of Ebola. Unfortunately, you are having difficulty retaining people in your study because they are fleeing the country (who can blame them!). Given the large number of people leaving your study (i.e. withdrawals), which measure of frequency would be the best to use
Incidence rate
You conduct a case control study to investigate an outbreak of a new syndrome characterized by muscle weakness which you hypothesize to be related to consuming a protein and vitamin supplement. You are concerned that cases may remember consuming the supplement better than the controls will. The name associated with this issue in epidemiological studies is
recall bias
