workshop 18 - pharmacoepidemiology Flashcards
what is epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of disease in populations, and the application of this study to control health problem.
what are clinical pharmacology
Clinical pharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs in humans.
what is pharmacoepidemiolgy
Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the use of and the effects of drugs in large numbers of people.
what are Types of data and databases used in pharmacoepidemiology
exposure ge pharmacy dispensing tells us information of medicines name, strength, dose etc
outcomes on hospital records, primary care visits. tell us Information of diagnosis procedures, lab results
counfoudenrs/ effect modifiers eh hospital records, primary care visits tells us information about age, sex, comorbidities, bm1, smoking
what are data spruces in Scotland?
prescribing, laboratory, socio demographic, screening, surveys, deaths, cancer, maternity, hospital, outpatient,
what is the Hierarchy of evidence
describe case control studies
Select a group of patients who have the disease of interest (case group); and a group of individuals who do not (control group).
Evaluate the proportion with the exposure in each group.
Most exposed people will have the condition (but not all), but few of the unexposed.
how is the Accuracy/reliability of research findings be presented
Research findings could be:
The truth – observed outcomes are, in fact, associated with the exposure
Chance – observed outcomes are not associated with the exposure
Due to bias or confounding – observed outcomes are associated to exposure based on something else
describe bias verses confouding
Bias is consequence of the design of the study – the results are not correct
E.g. selection bias, recall bias, reverse causation
Use same data collection method for cases and controls
Confounding – some other factor can explain the observed association found
E.g. drinking alcohol and developing lung cancer
Might be accounted for in the analyses
what are different types of bias?
Selection bias - Cases and controls are from different underlying populations
Information bias - There is a systematic difference in the reporting of exposure between cases and controls
Recall (response) bias - Cases may be more likely to remember past exposure
Observer (interviewer) bias - Inadvertently influencing how exposure data is collected
Reverse causation - Timing of exposure vs occurrence of outcomes
what are strengths and limitations of case control studies?
strengths
Efficient with respect to time and money
Is relatively quick and inexpensive
Is well-suited to studies of diseases with long latent periods
Is optimal for the evaluation of rare diseases
Can examine multiple etiologic factors for a single disease
Study of multiple exposures
limitations:
Is inefficient for the evaluation of rare exposure
Cannot directly compute incidence rate of disease in exposed and non-exposed individuals, unless study is population based
In some situations, the temporal relationship between exposure and disease may be difficult to establish
Is prone to bias compared with other analytic designs, in particular selection and recall bias
