Module 1; Measuring health and dis-ease in populations Flashcards

1
Q

what is the equation for the frequency of disease?

A

N/D/T

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2
Q

what is the gate frame made up of?

A

PECOT (population, exposure, comparison, outcome, time)

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3
Q

does the gate frame require all components of PECOT?

A

no, not all the time

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4
Q

what is a cohort study?

A

group of participants that are allocated into several groups (EG/CG) and followed up over a period of time

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5
Q

are cohort studies observational or experimental?

A

observational, and not random

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6
Q

do cohort studies measure incidence or prevalence

A

both

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7
Q

what is a cross sectional study

A

outcome + comparison at the same time, calculates the average

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8
Q

do cross sectional studies measure incidence or prevalence?

A

prevalence

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9
Q

do incidence studies count categorical or numerical events?

A

categorical

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10
Q

do prevalence studies count categorical or numerical events?

A

both

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11
Q

what are some problems with the incidence/prevalence

A
  1. change if high incidence, low prevalence (people dying)
  2. change if low incidence, high prevalence (obesity)
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12
Q

advantages/disadvantages of prevalence

A

easy + cheap to measure

only numerator + denominator
dirty because of cure rate and health rate

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13
Q

advantages/disadvantages of incidence

A

difficult and expensive to measure

only determined by a disease risk in a population
number, denominator and time measured

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14
Q

what are RCTS?

A

random controlled trials
cohort studies, but participants are randomly allocated

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15
Q

are cohort studies ethical?

A

yes because they are observing, not experimenting
however these are less accurate than experimental

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16
Q

risk difference

A

ego-cgo

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17
Q

risk ratio

18
Q

differences between risk difference and risk ratio

A

risk difference
- has units

risk ratio
- has no units
- rr reduction, RR > 1
- rr deduction, RR < 1

overall risk difference > risk ratio because its more accurate.

19
Q

errors in epidemiological studies

A

random error (chance)
non random error (systematic error)

20
Q

what is the acronym for non random errors?

21
Q

Ramboman

A

recruitment
- representative of the whole population? selection bias

22
Q

rAmboman

A

allocation
- usually by measurement or by random allocation
measurement ; e.g. measurement smokers vs drinkers. questionnaire

random allocation; prevents bias
- reduces effect of counding
- random trials = lots of effort and learning

23
Q

raMboman

A

maintenance
long experiment > short experiment.
participants may not stay in allocated groups
participants lost to follow up
not a problem in prevalence bc its a one time measure

24
Q

ramBoman

A

double blind vs single blind
double blind prevents doctors from having a trait to distract their feeling

25
rambOman
objective - should have no confusion in interpretation + subjective words can be confusing - ecological studies can struggle w this bc different words are subjective
26
what are ecological studies
allocation of whole population rather than individuals e.g. average __ levels
27
what is a problem with ecological studies + how to combat
confounding!!! to combat ; use ecological randomised trials.
28
something special about cohort studies
they can start as cross sectional, and then follow up to become cohort
29
can cross-sectional studies change?
no they stay cross-sectional
30
what are the strengths and weakness of ecological studies?
+low random error +cheap - confounding common
31
what are the strengths and weaknesses of rcts?
-difficult to to have representative sample, population are often highly motivated volunteers +random allocation!! -confounding -unethical to subject ppl to harm -maintenance error common -expensive + small
32
strengths and weaknesses of cross sectional
+easier to recruit -confounding common +ethical +maintenance error not an issue +less expensive -only measure prevalance --reverse causality (which came first?? exposure/outcome)
32
strengths and weaknesses of cohort studies
+easier to recruit rep pop - more confounding errors +ethical to study harm -maintenance error common +less expensive than rct +can measure incidence + prevalence
32
how to choose bt study designs
depends on question + what is possible (ethicality, practicality, affordability)
33
what is a meta-analysis
mathematical combination of studies bc they are too small by themselves
34
strengths + weaknesses of meta analyses
low random error + depends on quality of steps
35
what are the two types of random error?
random measurement error (human error) random sampling error (not representative of the whole population
36
95% confidence interval
there is about a 95% chance that a true value in a population lies within the 95% confidence interval in 100 identical studies using samples from the same population, 95/100 of the 95% cis will include the true value
37
what is statistically significant?
if ego/cgo dont overlap OR the 95% rr/rd does not overlap the no error line (which is when cgo=ego)
38
statistically insignificant
when ego/cgo overlap or rr/rd overlaps with the no error line