Statistics Flashcards

1
Q

How do you calculate NNT?

A

1/ ARR

(Absolute risk reduction)

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2
Q

How do you calculate ARR (Absolute risk reduction)?

A

ARR = ARC- ART.
(Absolute risk in controls - absolute risk in treatment)

ARR = Event rate in control group - event rate in experimental group

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3
Q

How do you calculate a mortality rate?

A

Deaths / number in the group

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4
Q

What is the best definition of a cohort study?

A

A cohort study follows a group of people over time, looking at a specific outcome (e.g. death) and whether exposure to a given risk factor (e.g. smoking) contributes to that outcome

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5
Q

How do you decide if a study or overall finding is significant in a box plot?

A

Does the whiskers (Confidence interval) cross the HR = 1 line
(Or the corners of the diamond if overall)

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6
Q

How do you measure hetero or homogenicity in a meta analysis?

A

Higgins I2

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7
Q

What Higgins I2 values would suggest:
a) Homogenicity
b) Statistically significant heterogenicity

A

a) Perfect homogenicity would be an I2 value of 0%

b) Significant statistical heterogeneity is often considered to be present if I2 is over 50%

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8
Q

How do you calculate odds ratio?

A

Odds of event in exposure group / odds of exposure in control group

So (event in exposure group/ non-event in exposure group ) / (events in controls/ non-events in controls)

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9
Q

How do you calculate sensitivity?

A

True positive / True positive + false negative

OR written another way

True positive results / All who have the disease

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10
Q

How do you calculate specificity?

A

True negative / True negative + false positive

True negatives results / All who don’t have the disease

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11
Q

How do you calculate positive predictive value?

A

True positives / all positive results

(True positive / true positive + false positive)

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12
Q

How do you calculate negative predictive value?

A

True negatives / all negatives

(True negative / true negative + false negative)

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13
Q

What is positive likehood ratio and how do you calculate it?

A

Compares odds of having disease if test positive vs. odds of having at baseline

(So a PLR of 2 means you are twice as likely to have a true positive if the test was positive compared to baseline population)

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14
Q

How do you calculate positive likehood ratio?

A

Sensitivity / 1-specificity

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15
Q

How do you calculate negative likehood ratio?

A

1- Sensativity / Specificity

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16
Q

Name two qualitative statistical techniques?

A

Delphi method - Expert opinion taken from several rounds of questionnaires

Ethnography - Study of social interactions by interview or observation in participant own environment

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17
Q

What are two alternative names for a pilot study?

A

Feasability or vanguard study

Small scale used before larger study, helps to test ideas

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18
Q

What is action research?

A

Done by the person who will use the results to improve their own service

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19
Q

Name 2 descriptive and 3 analytical types of observation studies?

A

Descriptive:
- Case report or case series

Analytical:
- Cohort
- Case control
- Cross-sectional

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20
Q

What is a case control study?

A

Retrospective
- Looks back to the past to dervive patterns

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21
Q

What is the main way to distinguish between case control, cross-sectional and cohort studies?

A

Case control - Retrospective, look at groups in the past
Cross sectional - Current perspective, snapshot in time now
Cohort - Prospective, follow two groups into the future

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22
Q

What is the main thing measured by case-control studies?

A

Odds radio
(looks at groups (with and without disease) and then works out OR of different exposures

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23
Q

Main disadvantage of case control study?

A

Recall bias

Also can’t do causation

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24
Q

Main disadvantages of cohort studies?

A

Time consuming and expensive
(lots of resource to follow up risk groups)

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25
Q

What is the main thing measured by cohort studies?

A

Risk ratio (RR)
Looks at outcomes of groups with different exposures over time

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26
Q

When would a cross-sectional study be used?

A

To assess prevalence at one point in time

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27
Q

What is recall bias?

A

Disease status of subject affects liklihood of recalling exposure

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28
Q

What is sampling bias?

A

Some members of population more likely to be sampled than others

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29
Q

What is lead time bias?

A

Lead time bias occurs when two tests for a disease are compared and although one of the tests diagnoses the disease earlier, this does not translate in to a survival benefit

Only results in an earlier diagnosis (so mortality not affected, morbidity may increase as patient has to live with knowledge for longer)

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30
Q

What is late-look bias?

A

When information is gather at inappropriate time, important to consider for fatal diseases

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31
Q

What is the hawthorne effect?

A

Study group changes their behaviour because they are being studies

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32
Q

What is the pygmalion effect?

A

High expecatons of treatment lead to improved performance and changes in the outcome

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33
Q

What is the incidence of a disease?

A

Rate of new cases over given time period

New cases/ population

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34
Q

What is the prevalence of disease?

A

Total number disease cases at a specific time

All cases/ population

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35
Q

How do you summise the difference between incidence and prevalence?

A

Prevalence = all cases

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36
Q

What is a meta analysis?

A

Combines data from 2 or more RCT’s

37
Q

What is a crossover RCT?

A

Participants starts like a normal RCT, but after first treatment phase participants are reallocated to another treatment arm

38
Q

What is a systematic review?

A

Qualitative review of multiple pieces of research

39
Q

What two ways can you compile the results of multiple trials?

A

Qualitative = Systematic review
Quantitative = Meta analysis

40
Q

Name the research hierarchy

A

Clinical guidelines
Meta analysus/ systematic review (MA/SR)
RCT
Cohort study
Cass control study
Cross-sectional study
Case report/ case-series
Expert opinion

Note - more letters in the name, lower down hierarchy

41
Q

How do you calculate:
a) Mode
b) Median
c) Mean

A

a) Most common
b) Middle (line all up)
c) Add all up and divide by number of those

42
Q

What is:
a) Continuous data
b) Discrete data
c) Categorical data

A

a) Can be anythinany value (height, weight etc)

b) Must be whole number (i.e. number of participants)

c) Has to be in specific category (i.e. colours)

43
Q

What are the two types of categorical data?

A

Ordinal - Can put in order (small, medium, large)

Non-ordinal- Can’t put in order (i.e. blood type)

44
Q

How do you calculate median number if even number of readings?

A

Take 2 numbers in the middle

Add together and divide by 2

45
Q

How do you calculate range in a set of data?

A

Largest - smallest

46
Q

What is true about mean, median and mode in normally distributed data?

A

All will be the same

47
Q

Where is the mode on a distribution curve that is postive or negative curve?

A

Mode at the top of the curve

48
Q

Right and left skew, which positive and which negative?

A

Left skew - starts big - Positive skew

Right skew - starts small - Negative skew

(Positive skew, peak is sooner - negative skew, peak is later)

49
Q

In positively and negatively skewed data what is the mean, mode, median relationship?

A

Positive (peak sooner) - Mode (peak) < Median < Mean

Negative (peak later) - Mean < Median < Mode (peak)

50
Q

What is parametric data?

A

Normally distributed

Non parametric would therefore be skewed data

51
Q

In normal distribution how much data is within 1 SD?

A

68%

52
Q

What is measured by variance?

A

Large - Numbers in set are far from mean and far from each other

Small - Numbers are close to mean and close to each other

Variance 0 = all values the same

53
Q

How is standard deviation calculated?

A

Square root of variance

54
Q

In normal distribution how much data is within 2 SD’s?

A

95%

55
Q

In normal distribution how much data is within 3 SD’s?

A

99.7%

56
Q

What is a type 1 error?

A

A type 1 error is rejecting the null hypothesis when it is in fact true

(An innocent person being convicted - we see a difference where there is none)

57
Q

What is a type 2 error?

A

A type 2 error is accepting/ failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false

(guilty person not being convicted - not seen a difference where there is one)

58
Q

How do you calculate the power of a statistical study?

A

1 – (type 2 error)

The likelihood that the test is correctly rejecting the null hypothesis (i.e. “proving” your hypothesis)

59
Q

Which SINGLE condition does the FAMCAT clinical case-finding algorithm identify?

A

Familial hypercholesterolaemia

60
Q

How do you decide if ethical approval is needed for a study?

A

Clinical audit and service evaluation do not warrant mandated REC review, but research does.

If randomisation is used, it is research

61
Q

With respect to urgent referrals for suspected cancer, what is the relationship between referral rates, mortality, and conversion rates?

A

Higher urgent referral rates result in lower cancer mortality

The conversion rate (the proportion of urgent referrals which led to a cancer diagnosis) was not associated with high or low use of the urgent referral pathway.

62
Q

The department of general practice at the local university is proposing a study to investigate whether the use of proton pump inhibitors increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Which is the SINGLE MOST appropriate study design to use in this case?

A

Cohort study
(Allow you to calculate relative risk)

Case-control studies can show associations, but cannot establish causality so wouldn’t be appropriate

63
Q

What p-value is the common cut off for significance, what does it mean?

A

<0.05%

Means that there is a 95% chance that the null hypothesis (i.e. that there is no difference between the control group and intervention group) is false and that the intervention has resulted in a real and significant difference

64
Q

What is absolute risk?

A

Probability something will happen

Cases vs. total number population

65
Q

How do you manage a NNT which you calculate as 33.3?

A

Always round up never down

So would be 34

66
Q

When do you use:
a) Risk ratio
b) Odds ratio
c) Hazard ratio

A

a) For propective studies (cohort)
b) For retrospective studies (case-control)
c) For Kaplan Myer graphs

67
Q

How do you calculate odds or risk ratios?

A

Absolute risk in event group / absolute risk in control group

68
Q

How do you calculate relative risk reduction?

A

1-Relative risk

69
Q

A statin demonstrates a relative risk of 0.8 of having a stroke. What is the relative risk reduction?

A

1- Relative risk

Or 0.2 in this case

70
Q

How does Hazard ratio differ to relative risk/ risk ratio?

A

Hazard takes into account time

71
Q

How does mortality rate differ with case fatality rate?

A

Mortality rate is deaths in population

Case fatility rate is deaths in all those with the disease

72
Q

What is standardised mortality rate?

A

Number of deaths / number of ‘expected deaths’ x 100

73
Q

How do you interpret standard mortality rate?

A

< 100 = Less deaths than expected
> 100 = More deaths than expected

74
Q

What is Bayesian probability? How is it expressed?

A

More flexible than traditional probabilty

75
Q

What is a DALY?

A

Disability adjusted life year

(measures disease burden in populations - number of years lost due to ill health, disability or early death)

DALY = Years of life lost + years lost due to disability

76
Q

What is a QALY?

A

Quality adjusted life year

Considers quality and quantity (Utility value x years of life)

1QALY = 1 year of life in perfect health
0= Death

77
Q

What is the difference in calculations between QALY and DALY?

A

DALY = Years lost + years lost due to disability

QALY - Quality x number of years

78
Q

What is the difference between what is measured by QALY and DALY?

A

QALY - Measures benefit with and without intervention (more individual)

DALY - Measures overall burden
(population measure)

79
Q

What is the null hypothesis, how is it noted?

A

H0 (null hypothessis)
There is no difference between two measured phenomenon

(Aim of an experiment is to reduce the null hypothesis)

80
Q

What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 errors?

A

Type 1 (alpha) error - Incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis when it was true (seeing a difference where there is none)

Type 2 - Accepting a false null hypothesis (not seeing a difference where there is one)

81
Q

When is a result deemed?
a) significant
b) Highly signficant

A

a) p<0.05
b) p<0.001

82
Q

What does “regression to the mean” refer to?

A

The more you measure a variable the closer you will get to the true mean

83
Q

What is triangulation and what research is it used for?

A

Assessing a problem in multiple ways
Often in qualitative research
Aiming to gather wider and more broad understanding

84
Q

What is validity of a trial?

A

Does the study measure what it is supposed to?

(internal validity - was design good?)
(external validity - was it analysed well)

85
Q

What is reliability?

A

How repeatable or consistent are the results if repeated

86
Q

What is generalisability?

A

The extent to which a study can be applied to other settings

87
Q

What is the difference between validity, reliability, and generalisability?

A

Validity - Was the study designed (internal) and analysed (external) - well

Reliability - Are the results reproduceable

Generalisability - Will it apply in a variety of settings

88
Q

If a test has a 95% confidence level (p=0.05) what is the chance of a type 1 error?

A

5% chance

89
Q

You attend a local diabetes update course where a recent randomised controlled trial is presented.

What would BEST illustrate the flow of patients through the trial and the reasons for attrition and dropout?

A

CONSORT diagram

The CONSORT statement is an evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting RCTs.

The statement comprises a 25-item checklist and a flow diagram. The checklist items focus on reporting how the trial was designed, analysed and interpreted, and the flow diagram displays the progress of all participants through the trial.