EXITS Flashcards
External validity
External validity is the extent the results can be generalized to the target population or clinical settings
Internal validity
Internal validity is the extent conclusions from the studies can be made, based on the studies design settings and measures.
Construct Validity
The extent to which a test measures the theoretical construct the test is supposed to measure.
Content Validity
The extent to which a test fully measures all the domains of the construct of interest.
Criterion Validity
That determines the relationship of the scores on a test to a specific criterion, which is usually another validated test
Inter-rater Reliability
The extent results are consistent among different raters who are rating the same information.
How to measure inter-rater reliability
Cohen Kappa coefficient (for categorical items) Intraclass correlation coefficient (for continuous items) 0.2-0.4=slight to fair 0.4-0.6=moderate 0.6-0.8= substantial >0.8=almost perfect
Test-retest Reliability
The extent results are consistent when the test is conducted at two different times with no intervention in between.
Bias
Systematic error that arises from the from the design, conduct and analysis of a study, resulting in observed result which deviate from the truth.
What are the common selection bias for case control study
referral, non-responder, volunteer bias, incidence prevalence bias
What is Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect refers to the increase in performance of individuals who are noticed, watched, and paid attention to by researchers or supervisors
What is Case Control study
Type of analytical observation study used to investigate the relationship between risk factor and outcome
The study is created by having a group of subject with the outcome and matched with a group without the outcome and the differences in previous exposure to risk factors were being investigated.
(3)Pros and (4)cons of case control study
pros: efficient, useful to study rare disease/outcome, use to study a wide range of exposure
Cans: RECALL BIAS, cannot estimate prevalence or incidence, temporal relationship can be uncertain, not efficient for rare exposure, relative risk is measured indirectly (since we cannot estimate prevalence)
Cohort study
is a form of longitudinal study that samples a group sharing a exposure to match a group that is not exposed to a risk factor. Both groups are followed up to investigate the diff likelihood of the outcome on the two groups
Pros and cons of cohort study
Pros
no selection bias
Well suited for rare exposure
Can study multiple diseases from a single exposure
Cons
Very expensive, Long time to complete, if prospective will have loss of followup
Randomised controlled trial
An intervention study in which a group of subjects with similar characteristics are randomised to received one of the several defined intervention
Factorial trial
Studying more than 1 intervention and also the effect of their interactions
Cross over trial
Study where each subject received two or more study treatment in a specific order. Each subject become his own control
Systematic Review
A type of comprehensive literature review which assess and review all the pertinent articles in the field using explicit criteria and pool the results together to answer a clinical question
Meta analysis
Quantitative assessment of a systemic review
Which involves pooling the results of independent studies together to produce an overall estimate of effect
Confidence Interval
A range of values within which the true value lies with a certain level of assurance.
Standard Error
Standard error is used to calculate the confidence interval of the result.
Standard deviation over square root sample size
Alpha level
Is the threshold at which we will accept or reject the null hypothesis.
Typically sets at 5%.
A alpha level of 5% means that the observed results had occurred by chance at most 5% of the time.
P value
It represents the likelihood the observed result has occurred by chance.
Null Hypothesis
States that any observed difference has occurred due to chance, and there is no real difference.
Effect Size
Measure of the magnitude of treatment effect.
How to measure effect size
Typically calculated using Cohen’s D, which is the (difference between the experimental and control means) divided by (standard deviation).
- 2: small
- 5: moderate
- 8: large
Or calculated using correlation coefficient
What is another name of effect size
standardized mean difference
Central Limit Theorem
States that no matter what the probability distribution of a sample is, in a huge sample size, the distribution follows a normal distribution
In a normal distribution, the mean=median=mode and the skew is zero
Odds
Number of times an event is likely to occur over number of times an event is likely not to occur
Odds Ratio
Odds of an event happening in the experimental group over
Odds of an event happening in the control group
Relative Risk
Risk of outcome in the experimental group over
Risk of outcome in the control group
Absolute Risk
Incidence rate of outcome in the group
Absolute Risk Reduction
Actual reduction in risk moving from control group to the experimental group
CER-EER
Numbers Needed to Treat
Numbers of subjects who must be treated with the intervention, compared with the control, to produce 1 beneficial outcome
1/ARR
Clinical Trial, what are the phases
Study design which aim to evaluate a treatment effect
Phase 0: Micro-dosing to assess PK
Phase 1: Testing on healthy subject, dosing regime and range, ascertain side effects
Phase 2: Testing on subjects (20-80 ppl), estimate treatment effect and tolerability
Phase 3: Clinical trial phase, test safety and effectiveness compared to alternative treatment
Phase 4: Post-market survey
Confounder
A variable that is associated with both the exposure and outcome of interest but does not lie in the causal pathway between the exposure and outcome.
How to control confounders
Restriction (exclusion criteria) Matching Stratification Randomization Statistical adjustment (stratification, multivariate regression analysis, direct standardization)
Matching
Technique used to distribute confounding factors evenly
Subjects are chosen in a way that identified confounders are evenly distributed
Stratification
i) as a form of matching
ii) as a form of statistical adjustment
i) Technique used to distribute confounding factors evenly
Subjects are chosen to ensure that identified confounding in strata are evenly distributed
ii) Statistical method that stratified the comparison groups according to the confounding variable. It then combines the effect measures in each strata to yield a summary effect measure.
Randomization
Systematic process of allocating subjects to the study groups in such a way that each subject has an equal chance of being allocated to either group
Types of randomisation
1) Simple (no constraint in allocation sequence)
2) Restricted (A sequence is generated to ensure equal ratio among the groups)
3) Block (Ensure that each group has equal numbers of participants in blocks)
4) Stratified
5) Adaptive (The chance of allocation to study group is adjusted according to the existing imbalance in baseline characteristic of the group)
Multivariate regression Analysis
A statistical method that describe the relationship between 1 dependent outcome and 2 or more independent variables.
Power
Probability of detecting a difference when a true difference exist.
Typically set at 1-beta=0.8
There is 80% probability that a true difference will be detected
What increases power
Increase sample size, effect size, alpha
dec standard deviation