Formative Flashcards
malaria is one of the six most common causes of death from infectious disease worldwide
True
chicken pox is one of the six most common causes of death from infectious disease worldwide
False
infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa
True
the best indicator of the burden of an infectious disease is the number of deaths
False
because of the epidemiological transition, the burden of infectious disease in developing countries is set to worse
False
If an exposure and disease are statistically associated this means that the exposure causes the disease
False
systematic reviews and meta-analyses are at the top of the hierarchy of evidence
True
in the hierarchy of evidence, case-control studies provide stronger evidence than that from cohort studies
False
evidence-based medicine has replaced clinical decision making over the last 30 years
False
The 95% confidence intervals provide information that helps us determine whether a statistical association between an exposure and disease (expressed as a relative risk or odds ratio) could have occurred by chance
True
A lack of consistency between results from a number of studies using different study designs in different populations excludes a causal association
False
The association being assessed is less likely to be causal if it is consistent with evidence from animal experiments and known biological mechanisms
False
for a putative risk factor to be the cause of a disease, it has to precede the disease
True
A strong association, as measured by the magnitude of the relative risk, is more likely to be causal than a weak association
True
if increasing levels of an exposure lead to increasing risk of disease i.e. a dose-response relationship is found, this provides further evidence of causality
True
The presence of bias in an observational study of the effect of an exposure on disease risk implies the estimated relative risk of disease associated with the exposure is inaccurate
True
The presence of bias in an observational study of the effect of an exposure on disease risk implies there is a systematic difference between the observed association between exposure and disease and the hypothesized association between exposure and disease
False
The presence of bias in an observational study of the effect of an exposure on disease risk implies there are missing values in the response (disease outcome) measurements
False
The presence of bias in an observational study of the effect of an exposure on disease risk implies there is a systematic difference between the observed association between exposure and disease and the true association between exposure and disease
True
The presence of bias in an observational study of the effect of an exposure on disease risk implies there are missing values in the exposure measurements
False
is this study experimental: A study to assess the effect of regular exercise on the risk of coronary heart disease, by randomly allocating some patients to take part in a supervised exercise programme and the remaining patients to take no additional exercise
True
is this study experimental: A comparison of fasting glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes registered at a GP practice who were treated either with twice daily insulin therapy alone or with twice daily insulin therapy plus a new drug (Exenatide) claimed to boost the number of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Data on treatment regime were obtained from the GP’s records
False
is this study experimental: A study to assess the effect of regular exercise on the risk of coronary heart disease, by collecting information on exercise via a questionnaire as part of a health and lifestyle survey
False
is this study experimental: A comparison of glycaemic control (measured by plasma glycosylated haemoglobin levels) of patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with either drug A or drug B in a randomized controlled trial
True
is this study experimental: A study of the prevalence of Down’s syndrome in babies born in the UK between 1995 and 2000
False
Prospective cohort studies cannot measure incidence
False
Prospective cohort studies can be subject to bias from the healthy worker effect
True
Prospective cohort studies are necessary to estimate the prevalence of disease
False
Prospective cohort studies are studies where subjects are followed over time to determine the frequency of occurrence of the disease under study
True
Prospective cohort studies select subjects for inclusion on the basis of their current disease status
False
In health promotion if the disease is rare then a population based approach is usually warranted
False
In health promotion a population approach to vaccination is the most cost effective way of protecting children from measles
True
In health promotion tertiary prevention is always preferable to other forms
False
In health promotion screening may be primary or secondary prevention
False
In health promotion treating high blood pressure is a form of secondary prevention
True
Phase II clinical trials aim to determine the metabolic and pharmacologic actions of drugs in humans and the maximum tolerated dose
False
Phase IV clinical trials are post-marketing studies that aim to provide additional information on the drug’s risks, benefits and optimal use
True
Clinical trials assign participants randomly to intervention and control groups for ethical reasons
False
Clinical trials often involve “double blinding” where both the researcher and the participants are unaware who is in the intervention or control group
True
Clinical trials are the only experimental design in epidemiology
True
the random effects model should be used when it is reasonable to assume that the underlying treatment effect is the same in all studies that are part of the meta-analysis
False
Meta-analyses are original research studies
False
The main difference between a systematic review and a meta-analysis is that the meta-analysis involves a quantitative method to calculate an overall summary (average) effect of a treatment/exposure
True
Publication bias refers to the greater likelihood of research that has not found a significant result to be published in peer-reviewed literature compared to research that has found a significant result
False
Meta-analyses should contain clearly defined eligibility criteria for the studies chosen to be included
True
