Refresher Questions: .edu



Start with these refresher questions:

Question 1

Which of the following statements is NOT true about data on prevalence of a

disease?

A. Prevalence data are a function of the incidence and duration of the disease

B. Prevalence data measure the risk of acquiring (or developing) the disease

C. Are useful in planning for needed services and facilities

D. Are preferably not used to study etiology if incidence data are

available

E. Tell us how common a condition is in a population

Question 2

Based on the information provided, indicate which type of measure is being used: incidence density, cumulative incidence, or prevalence rate. Choose only one measure of the above measures for the following three questions.

Question 2a

The number of older women (age 65+) identified with osteoporosis in Sun City, FLA in 1996, divided by the total number of women age 65+ living in Sun City in 2004.

Question 2b

The number of cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2003 in the geographic area of Tampa, FL, divided by the number of live births in Tampa in 2003 (including live births that did not survive the 1st year).

Question 2c

The number of persons who suffered a first myocardial infarction during the years 2001- 2004, divided by the number of persons who were at risk and were followed for varying periods of time during 2001-2004.

Unit 5 Practice Questions-

Question 3

When a causal association exists between two variables, this association is:

A. Bi-directional

B. Non-directional

C. Uni-directional

Question 4

If there is an association between the exposure and disease, where the exposure increases the risk of disease, which group would show a higher incidence rate of disease?

A. The exposed group

B. The unexposed group

C. Neither

Question 5

The correct measure of association that is used in all cohort studies is:

A. The odds ratio

B. The prevalence rate ratio

C. The relative risk

D. The standardized morbidity ratio

Question 6

Which of the following is an advantage of conducting prospective studies?

A. Investigators can control exposure levels as needed.

B. There is very little loss to follow-up.

C. They are an inexpensive and quick way to examine an association.

D. You may be able to infer a temporal relation between exposure and outcome.

Questions 7

Choose which analytic design (cohort (prospective or retrospective are both considered cohort) OR case-control) is the best option for each research project described in the following questions.

Question 7a-

Research project -- Evaluating the association between exposure to radiation from an atomic bomb (a rare exposure) and the risk of developing leukemia (a relatively common outcome).

A. Cohort

B. Case-control

Question 7b

Research Project – Examine the association between oral contraceptive use and a rare type of breast cancer.

A. Cohort

B. Case-control

Question 8

A group of researchers wished to examine whether exposure to atmospheric nuclear testing weapons in the Pacific in 1957-58 increased the risk of developing cancer. Military service records were used to identify servicemen who participated in the tests and a group of men who worked aboard ships not involved in the testing (unexposed). They searched cancer registries and national death data to determine which men developed cancer during the period 1957-1987.

A. Clinical Trial (experimental study)

B. Cross-sectional study

C. Case-control study

D. Prospective cohort study

E. Retrospective cohort study

Question 9

When a disease is rare, which of the following statements is true?

a. The relative risk is approximated by the odds ratio.

b. The odds ratio does not approximate the relative risk.

c. The relative risk approximates the odds ratio.

d. None of the above.

Question 10

It is best to use a cohort study when:

A. There is a long latency period between exposure and disease.

B. The outcome of interest is very rare.

C. You only have enough funding to study a small sample

D. You want to study multiple outcomes of an exposure

Question 11

An occupational epidemiologic study selects an unexposed cohort from an industry where the exposure is not common. What type of comparison group is this?

A. External comparison group

B. Internal comparison group

C. Healthy worker group

D. None of the above

Question 12

In a study, they compared cancer mortality of rubber workers with cancer to mortality of the general population, an SMR of 95 and PMR of 153 suggests:

A. An epidemic of cancer mortality among the rubber workers. Substantially lower than expected cancer mortality among the rubber workers.

A. Moderately higher than expected cancer deaths among the rubber workers, but an approximately equal proportion of cancer deaths.

B. Relatively similar expected cancer deaths among the rubber workers, but a higher than expected proportion of cancer deaths.

Question 13

Complete the next two questions using the information given:

Dr. Collins wants to evaluate the association between occupational exposure to organic solvents and the occurrence of mental health disorders using a sample of 10,498 hairdressers. The observed number of cases due to mental disorders among the hairdressers was 398. Dr. Collins then computed the number of cases of mental disorders that would be expected among hairdressers if they developed mental disorders at the same rate as the general population of similar age and sex in New York City. The number of expected cases was 631.

Question 13a

What is the value of the SMR in this study?

Question 13b

Interpret the association found in the previous question.

Questions 14a-e refer to the article from the Tampa Tribune on the next page.

Question 14a

This study is convincing primarily because: (choose the best answer)

A. It is a study of obesity and mortality

B. It includes a very large sample, more than 1 million Americans

C. It agrees with the rest of the literature (replicates others’ findings)

D. More adults and children are overweight than ever before

Question 14b

The primary outcome of this study is:

A. Body mass index

B. Premature mortality (death)

C. Gender

D. Cancer

Question 14c

Different referent groups are used for men and women because:

A. There is a dose-response gradient for men and women.

B. There are other factors that interact with the referent group.

C. The healthy weight range for women is lower than the healthy weight range for men.

D. The authors should not have used different referent groups.

Question 14d

This study’s design is:

A. Ecologic/correlational

B. Cross-sectional

C. Cohort design (either prospective or retrospective)

D. Case-control design

Question 14e

In the 4th column, the article states “Among healthy, nonsmoking white

men and women and black men, the researchers found a gradually increasing risk of death beginning with a BMI of 25….”

This means that there was a:

A. Dose-response gradient between the exposure and the

outcome

B. Another variable is responsible for the finding

C. There is some sort of bias that explains this finding

D. The evidence is now compelling and irrefutable

Question 14f

The last paragraph, which compares the risk among different groups in the study are:

A. Relative risks

B. Odds ratios

C. Correlations

D. Standardized morbidity ratios

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Question 15

Complete the next five questions using the information given:

In the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Regional News Release dated February 1, 2006, a story is reported about company employees working in a seven-foot-deep trench that lacked any protection against collapse of its sidewalls. The contractor hiring these workers will have to pay fines to OSHA for “willful and repeat violations of safety standards” following an OSHA inspection at the site.

The (fictitious) data in the table below show the age distribution (Column B) of a study sample consisting of 10,000 men who work under the dangerous conditions discussed above in the News Release. Given the number of observed accidents in the study sample given in Column C and the accident rates in the male general population (Column F) and those for workers around the country (assume there is a national database enumerating rates for all accidents among all workers) (Column D), calculate the expected number of accidents in the study sample (Column E) using the data for all workers from Column D and the expected number of accidents using the general population (Column G) using Column F. Derive the measure of the magnitude of the effect for the two comparisons ((1) O/E where E is from Column E and (2) O/E where E is from Column G).

|Column A |Column |Column |Column |Column |Column |Column |

| |B |C |D |E |F |G |

| | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | |

| |Distribution by age |Number of observed|Accident rates for all |Expected number of |General Population |Expected number of |

| |of male contract |accidents in study|workers per 1,000 |accidents using all |data (men): accident|accidents using |

| |workers in the study|sample | |male workers |rates per 1,000 |general population |

| |sample | | | | |of men |

| | | | | | | |

|Age | | | | | | |

| ................
................

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