Formative

Question 1

malaria is one of the six most common causes of death from infectious disease worldwide

Answer 1

True

Question 2

chicken pox is one of the six most common causes of death from infectious disease worldwide

Answer 2

False

Question 3

infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa

Answer 3

True

Question 4

the best indicator of the burden of an infectious disease is the number of deaths

Answer 4

False

Question 5

because of the epidemiological transition, the burden of infectious disease in developing countries is set to worse

Answer 5

False

Question 6

If an exposure and disease are statistically associated this means that the exposure causes the disease

Answer 6

False

Question 7

systematic reviews and meta-analyses are at the top of the hierarchy of evidence

Answer 7

True

Question 8

in the hierarchy of evidence, case-control studies provide stronger evidence than that from cohort studies

Answer 8

False

Question 9

evidence-based medicine has replaced clinical decision making over the last 30 years

Answer 9

False

Question 10

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

Answer 10

True

Question 11

A lack of consistency between results from a number of studies using different study designs in different populations excludes a causal association

Answer 11

False

Question 12

The association being assessed is less likely to be causal if it is consistent with evidence from animal experiments and known biological mechanisms

Answer 12

False

Question 13

for a putative risk factor to be the cause of a disease, it has to precede the disease

Answer 13

True

Question 14

A strong association, as measured by the magnitude of the relative risk, is more likely to be causal than a weak association

Answer 14

True

Question 15

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

Answer 15

True

Question 16

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

Answer 16

True

Question 17

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

Answer 17

False

Question 18

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

Answer 18

False

Question 19

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

Answer 19

True

Question 20

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

Answer 20

False

Question 21

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

Answer 21

True

Question 22

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

Answer 22

False

Question 23

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

Answer 23

False

Question 24

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

Answer 24

True

Question 25

is this study experimental: A study of the prevalence of Down’s syndrome in babies born in the UK between 1995 and 2000

Answer 25

False

Question 26

Prospective cohort studies cannot measure incidence

Answer 26

False

Question 27

Prospective cohort studies can be subject to bias from the healthy worker effect

Answer 27

True

Question 28

Prospective cohort studies are necessary to estimate the prevalence of disease

Answer 28

False

Question 29

Prospective cohort studies are studies where subjects are followed over time to determine the frequency of occurrence of the disease under study

Answer 29

True

Question 30

Prospective cohort studies select subjects for inclusion on the basis of their current disease status

Answer 30

False

Question 31

In health promotion if the disease is rare then a population based approach is usually warranted

Answer 31

False

Question 32

In health promotion a population approach to vaccination is the most cost effective way of protecting children from measles

Answer 32

True

Question 33

In health promotion tertiary prevention is always preferable to other forms

Answer 33

False

Question 34

In health promotion screening may be primary or secondary prevention

Answer 34

False

Question 35

In health promotion treating high blood pressure is a form of secondary prevention

Answer 35

True

Question 36

Phase II clinical trials aim to determine the metabolic and pharmacologic actions of drugs in humans and the maximum tolerated dose

Answer 36

False

Question 37

Phase IV clinical trials are post-marketing studies that aim to provide additional information on the drug’s risks, benefits and optimal use

Answer 37

True

Question 38

Clinical trials assign participants randomly to intervention and control groups for ethical reasons

Answer 38

False

Question 39

Clinical trials often involve “double blinding” where both the researcher and the participants are unaware who is in the intervention or control group

Answer 39

True

Question 40

Clinical trials are the only experimental design in epidemiology

Answer 40

True

Question 41

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

Answer 41

False

Question 42

Meta-analyses are original research studies

Answer 42

False

Question 43

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

Answer 43

True

Question 44

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

Answer 44

False

Question 45

Meta-analyses should contain clearly defined eligibility criteria for the studies chosen to be included

Answer 45

True