Epidemiology Test 2

Front 1

Definition of a variable

Back 1

Any quantity that varies. Any attribute, phenomenon, or event that can have different values

Front 2

What is a continuous variable?

Back 2

Type of variable that can have an infinite number of values within a specified range (height, weight)

Front 3

The closer the points lay on a scatter plot, with respect to the straight line of best fit the stronger or weaker the association?

Back 3

Stronger

Front 4

What is the overriding question that epidemiologists ask?

Back 4

Whether a particular exposure is causally associated with a given outcome

Front 5

Why is one to one causation rare?

Back 5

Because many diseases have more than one causal factor

Front 6

What is a negative association?

Back 6

When the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable decreases

Front 7

What is a graphic plotting of distribution of cases by time of onset?

Back 7

Epidemic Curve

Front 8

What is a dose relationship?

Back 8

One of the indicators used to assess a causal effect of a suspected exposure associated with an adverse health outcome

Front 9

What is the definition of threshold?

Back 9

The lowest dose at which a particular response occurs

Front 10

What is the latency period?

Back 10

Time period between initial exposure and measurable response

Front 11

What is temporality?

Back 11

We must observe the cause before the effect

Front 12

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Back 12

Participants behavioral changes as a result of their knowledge of being in a study

Front 13

What is confounding?

Back 13

The distortion of a measure of the effect of an exposure on an outcome due to the association of the exposure with other factors that influence the occurrence of the outcome

Front 14

What is an ecologic study?

Back 14

Studies the populations and groups rather than individuals

Front 15

What does random assigning of subjects to a study group help control for?

Back 15

Confounding

Front 16

What is ecologic fallacy

Back 16

Association observed between variables on aggregate level that doesn't reflect at individual level

Front 17

Used in case-control studies, a type of indirect measure of association between frequency of exposure and frequency of outcome is known as the...

Back 17

Odds ratio

Front 18

What is a prospective cohort study?

Back 18

Subjects are classified by exposure then observed over time for new occurrences

Front 19

What is relative risk?

Back 19

Ratio of incidence rate of exposed to not exposed

Front 20

Laws and regulations are developed as methods of policy implementation

Back 20

True

Front 21

Which phase of the policy cycle is considered the most important?

Back 21

Problem definition/formulation/reformulation

Front 22

What is the major weakness of disease screening? What must it be followed by?

Back 22

Provides only preliminary info; a diagnostic confirmation of any positive results of a screening test is required

Front 23

Reliability is to precision as validity is to...

Back 23

Accuracy

Front 24

What is legimitization?

Back 24

Making policies legitimate or acceptable to norms of society

Front 25

Although a measure that is invalid can be reliable is it possible for a measure that is unreliable to be valid?

Back 25

No

Front 26

What is a cost effective analysis?

Back 26

Contrast cost and health effects of an intervention to see if it is economically worth it

Front 27

Three ways an epidemiologist can contribute to health policy formation

Back 27

1. Conducting own research

2. Being an expert witness

3. Serving on expert groups

Front 28

What are policy actors?

Back 28

Involved in policy formation (legislature, lobbyists, citizens)

Front 29

What is an interest group?

Back 29

Working on behalf of or in support of a cause

Front 30

What is a dose response assessment?

Back 30

Relationship of amount of exposure and unwanted occurrence

Front 31

What is sensitivity?

Back 31

The ability of a test to identify correctly all screened individuals who actually have the disease (can cause false negatives)

Front 32

What is specificity?

Back 32

The ability of the test to identify only nondiseased individuals who actually do not have the disease (can cause false positives)

Front 33

What is the formula for sensitivity?

Back 33

A/A+C

Front 34

What is the formula for specificity?

Back 34

D/B+D

Front 35

What is reliability?

Back 35

Ability of test to give consistent results on repeated trials

Front 36

What is positive predictive value?

Back 36

People screened positive by the test who actually have the disease

Front 37

What is negative predictive value?

Back 37

People screened negative that do not have the disease

Front 38

What is the formula for positive predictive value?

Back 38

A/A+B

Front 39

What is the formula for negative predictive value?

Back 39

D/C+D

Front 40

Can stress be a good thing?

Back 40

Yes, from positive life events

Front 41

Smoking around babies can increase the chances of SIDS

Back 41

True

Front 42

What is social epidemiology?

Back 42

Examines the social distribution and social determinants of states of health

Front 43

What is behavioral epidemiology?

Back 43

Study of the role of behavioral factors in health

Front 44

What is lifestyle from an epidemiology perspective?

Back 44

The choice of behavioral factors that affect how we live: these choices often are a function of social influences

Front 45

What is molecular epidemiology?

Back 45

Uses molecular markers in addition to genes to establish exposure-disease relationships

Front 46

Can a gene be a marker for disease susceptibility but not confer risk on its own?

Back 46

Yes

Front 47

Potentially, global warming could cause disease carrying arthropods to move towards the North?

Back 47

Yes

Front 48

What does sewer epidemiology monitor?

Back 48

Levels of excreted drugs in the sewer system in order to assess the level of illicit drug use in the community

Front 49

What are genetic markers of susceptibility?

Back 49

Host factor that enhances some step in the progression between exposure and disease such that the downstream step is more likely to occur

Front 50

What are some examples of genetic markers of susceptibility?

Back 50

Hemophilia, Tay-Sachs, Down Syndrome, Sickle Cell disease

Front 51

What are Donora Pennsylvania and London 1948 known for?

Back 51

Severe air pollution episodes

Front 52

What are unintentional injuries?

Back 52

Unanticipated event in traffic, the workplace, or a domestic or recreational setting

Front 53

What is forensic epidemiology?

Back 53

Investigation of public health problems caused by intentional or criminal acts.

Front 54

Methods of forensic epidemiology

Back 54

1. Detect unusual occurrence of disease

2. Use ongoing surveillance systems

3. Case identification and confirmation

4. Develop descriptive epidemiologic profile of a group of cases

Front 55

Four possible outcomes of testing

Back 55

True positive, false positive, true negative, false negative

Front 56

What are the two types of errors and what do they represent?

Back 56

Type 1 Error: False positive

Type 2 Error: False negative

Front 57

What is a one sided test and two sided test?

Back 57

One sided test tests for a difference in one direction (increase in cure rate) while two sided tests test for a difference in either direction (increase or decrease)

Front 58

What is external validity?

Back 58

Ones ability to generalize from the results of the study to an external population

Front 59

What is a life table?

Back 59

Show what probability each age has of dying before their next birthday

Front 60

What are person years?

Back 60

Sum of measurements of time of exposure

Front 61

How to calculate odds ratio?

Back 61

AD/BC

Front 62

Odds ratio numbers meaning

Back 62

>1 is positive association

<1 is negative, may be protective factor

=1 is no association