Stats and ethics Flashcards
What is sensitivity?
Proportion of patients with the condition who have a positive test result
TP / (TP + FN )
What is specificity?
Proportion of patients without the condition who have a negative test result
TN / (TN + FP)
What is the positive predictive value?
The chance that the patient has the condition if the diagnostic test is positive
TP / (TP + FP)
What is Negative predictive value?
The chance that the patient does not have the condition if the diagnostic test is negative
TN / (TN + FN)
What is the likelihood ratio for a positive test result?
How much the odds of the disease increase when a test is positive
sensitivity / (1 - specificity)
What is the likelihood ratio for a negative test result?
How much the odds of the disease decrease when a test is negative
(1 - sensitivity) / specificity
What is a problem with case control studies?
Recall bias
Odds ratio?
Odds ratios are the usual reported measure in case-control studies. It approximates to relative risk if the outcome of interest is rare.
Odds in treatment group/odds in placebo
What is a Cohort study?
Observational and prospective. Two (or more) are selected according to their exposure to a particular agent (e.g. medicine, toxin) and followed up to see how many develop a disease or other outcome.
The usual outcome measure is the relative risk.
Examples include Framingham Heart Study
What are some advantages and disadvantages of cohort studies?
Advantages:
- Can follow-up group with a rare exposure
- Good for common and multiple outcomes
- Less risk of selection and recall bias
Disadvantages:
- Take a long time
- Loss to follow up
- Need a large sample size
What is a case-control study?
Observational and retrospective. Patients with a particular condition (cases) are identified and matched with controls. Data is then collected on past exposure to a possible causal agent for the condition.
The usual outcome measure is the odds ratio.
Inexpensive, produce quick results
Useful for studying rare conditions
Prone to confounding
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a case-control study?
Advantages:
- Good for rare outcomes
- Quicker than cohort or intervention
- Can investigate multiple exposures
Disadvantages:
- Difficulties finding controls of match with cases
- Prone to selection and information bias
What is a cross-sectional study?
Provide a ‘snapshot’, sometimes called prevalence studies
Provide weak evidence of cause and effect
What are some advantages and disadvantages of a cross-sectional study?
Advantages:
- Cheap and quick
- Provide data on prevalence at a single point in time
- Large sample size
- Good for public health planning
Disadvantages:
- Risk of reverse causality (don’t know whether outcome or exposure came first)
- Cannot measure incidence
- Risk of recall bias and non-response
What are the advantages and disadvantages of RCT?
Advantages:
- Low risk of bias and confounding
- Can infer causality
Disadvantages:
- Time consuming
- Expensive
- Specific inclusion/exclusion criteria may mean the study population is different from typical patients
What are the different factors that can explain associations?
- Chance
- Bias
- Confounding
- Reverse causality
- A true association
What is selection bias and what can cause it?
Systematic error in the selection of study participants of the allocation to different study groups
- Non- response
- Loss to follow up
- Are those in the intervention group different to those in the control group
What are the different types of information bias?
Measurement (e.g. different equipment used to measure the outcome in the different groups)
*Observer (e.g. the researcher knows which participants are cases and which are controls and subconsciously reports/measures the exposure or outcome differently depending on which group they are in)
- Recall (e.g. events that happened in the past are not remembered and reported accurately)
- Reporting (e.g. respondents report inaccurate information because they are embarassed)
What is a type 1 error?
Two types of errors may occur when testing the null hypothesis
type I: the null hypothesis is rejected when it is true
What is a type 2 error?
type II: the null hypothesis is accepted when it is false - i.e. Failing to spot a difference when one really exists, a false negative.
How do you work out relative risk?
Relative risk (RR) is the ratio of risk in the experimental group (experimental event rate, EER) to risk in the control group (control event rate, CER).
The term relative risk ratio is sometimes used instead of relative risk.
EER/CER
Relative risk reduction (RRR) or relative risk increase (RRI) is calculated by dividing the absolute risk change by the control event rate
Using the above data, RRI = (EER - CER) / CER = (0.6 - 0.25) / 0.25 = 1.4 = 140%
What is absolute risk reduction?
Absolute risk reduction (ARR) is calculated as the difference in event rates between two groups. In this context, it represents the additional benefit of one treatment over another in reducing pain.
Subtracting the risk of pain in the usual treatment group (1,340 / 1,530) by the risk of pain in the current best treatment group (1,578 / 1,820). 87.6% - 86.7% = 0.9%
How do you work out odds ratio?
Work out the odds in each group.
Then divide the odds of each group together and that gives you the outcome
Different types of plot chart?
Funnel plot: Funnel plots are primarily used to demonstrate publication bias in meta-analyses. As publication bias is being investigated here, and the researcher is conducting a meta-analysis, a funnel plot is the best answer
Box-and-whisker plot: This is a graphical representation of the sample minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile and sample maximum. This helps show the distribution of quantitative data. However, it does not demonstrate publication bias.
Forest plot Forest plots are usually found in meta-analyses and provide a graphical representation of the strength of evidence of the constituent trials
Histogram A graphical display of continuous data where the values have been categorised into a number of categories
Scatter plot Graphical representation using Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data
Kaplan-Meier survival plot A plot of the Kaplan-Meier estimate of the survival function showing decreasing survival with time
What is the standard error of the mean?
Standard error of the mean = standard deviation / square root (number of patients)
What is a cross-sectional study?
Provide a ‘snapshot’, sometimes called prevalence studies
Provide weak evidence of cause and effect
NNT?
Number Needed to Treat (NNT) is a metric used to determine how many patients need to be treated in order to prevent one additional adverse outcome. It is derived by taking the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction (ARR), which can be calculated using the formula: 1 / ARR. The ARR itself is found by subtracting the control event rate (CER) from the experimental event rate (EER). In this instance, NNT equals 1 / (EER - CER) = 1 / ((45/89) - (12/102)) = 2.58.
1/ ARR
In the theory of planned behavior what 3 factors influence intentions?
Attitude towards the behavior: this refers to an individual’s positive or negative evaluation of performing the behavior
Subjective norm: this reflects the perceived social pressure to engage or not engage in the behavior. It involves the influence of important others (e.g., family, peers, society) and their expectations or approval of the behavior (e.g., “Do people who matter to me think I should do this?”).
Perceived behavioral control (PBC): This refers to the individual’s perception of their ability to perform the behavior, influenced by both internal factors (e.g., self-confidence, skills) and external factors (e.g., availability of resources, opportunities). It is similar to the concept of self-efficacy. The more control a person believes they have over performing a behavior, the more likely they are to intend to do it.
The TPB model
Attitude: Beliefs about the behavior → Evaluation of outcomes (positive/negative)
Subjective Norm: Normative beliefs (perceptions of others’ expectations) → Motivation to comply
Perceived Behavioral Control: Control beliefs (resources, opportunities) → Confidence in ability to perform the behavior
Intention: The likelihood of engaging in the behavior
Behavior: The actual action or decision
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the TPB?
Strengths:
It provides a comprehensive framework that includes both individual (attitude, perceived control) and social (subjective norm) factors.
It has been empirically supported in many domains, especially health psychology and consumer behavior.
Limitations:
TPB assumes that people are rational decision-makers, which doesn’t always align with real-world, emotional, or impulsive behaviors.
It can be hard to measure some of the constructs, especially perceived behavioral control, which is often subjective.
The model primarily focuses on individual-level factors and might not fully account for systemic or structural barriers.
What are the 3 ways to perform a health needs assessment?
- epidemiological
- Corporate
- Comparative
What are Bradshaw’s 4 types of health need?
Normative Needs:
These are health needs based on objective, expert-defined criteria, typically related to health standards or guidelines. For example, a health need that is defined by medical experts, such as the need for a specific vaccination or health screening based on age or risk factors.
Felt Needs:
These are health needs that individuals or communities perceive and feel. Felt needs are subjective and based on personal experiences or self-reported symptoms. For example, a person may feel they need support for stress or mental health, even if there is no clear medical diagnosis.
Expressed Needs:
These are health needs that are articulated by individuals or communities through their behaviour, such as seeking medical treatment, making appointments, or using healthcare services. Expressed needs are needs that people actively try to address by accessing health services.
Comparative Needs:
These are health needs identified by comparing different populations or groups. Comparative needs look at disparities between groups, such as differences in health outcomes, health service access, or health behaviours. For example, comparing the incidence of heart disease in one community versus another may reveal differences in health needs.
What is the epidemiological approach to a health needs assessment?
- Disease incidence and prevalence
- Morbidity and mortality
- Life expectancy
- Services avaliable
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the epidemiological approach to the health needs assessment?
Advantages:
- Uses existing data
- Provides data on disease
- Incidence
- Can evaluate services by trends over time
Disadvantages:
- Quality of data variable
- Data collected may not be the data required
- Does not consider the felt needs or
opinions/experiences of the people affected
What is the corporate approach to a health needs assessment?
- Ask the population what their needs are
- Use focus groups meetings etc
- Wide variety of stakeholders
What are the advantages and disadvantages to the corporate approach?
Advantages:
- Based on the felt and expressed needs of the population in question
- Recognises the knowledge of those in the population
- Takes into account a wide range of views
Disadvantages:
- Difficult to distinguish need from demand
- Groups may have vested interest
- May be influenced by political agendas
What is the comparative approach to a health needs assessment?
Compare the health or healthcare provision of one population to another
* Spatial (e.g. different towns) or social (e.g. age, social class)
* Can compare health, service provision/utilisation, health outcomes
*Means of evaluating variation in performance/costs of services
What are the Adv vs Dis for comparative approach?
Adv:
- Quick and cheap
- Gives a measure of relative performance
Dis:
- May be difficult to find comparable population
- Data may not be available/high quality
- May not yield what the most appropriate level
(e.g. of provision or utilisation) should be