Based Epidemiology Quiz Module 6

Module 6 Quiz 1. A large medical center's oncology program reported an increased number of cases of pancreatic cancer during a certain month. The hospital's epidemiologist decided to research the problem. Tumor registry records were searched to identify all cases of pancreatic cancer during a five-year period; cancer patients were matched with patients treated for other diseases during the same five-year period. All subjects in the study were questioned about lifestyle factors including alcohol, tea, and coffee consumption. The resulting data are as follows: LIFESTYLE VARIABLE Alcohol Tea Drinking Coffee Drinking DATA Cancer Patients Men Women Other Patients Men Women 185 140 190 270 230 270 120 110 140 260 225 240 Total number of male cancer patients = 200. Total number of female cancer patients = 150. Total number of male patients (other diseases) = 300. Total number of female patients (other diseases) = 300. Which number best approximates risk associated with tea drinking in men? 0.71 Which number best approximates risk associated with coffee drinking in women? 3.50 Which factor has the strongest association with cancer for both men and women? Coffee Drinking Does this study have an exposure status variable? Yes, Lifestyle 2. Examples of descriptive epidemiologic studies do not usually include: a. Cohort studies b. Counts c. Case series d. Cross-sectional studies 3. Examples of exposure data in ecologic studies include: a. Per capita income b. Mean ambient temperatures c. Smoking prevalence d. Per capita calorie intake e. All of the above 4. An abrupt drop in mortality due to a specific disease from one year to the next is most likely due to: a. incorrect listing of cause of death by the physician on the death certificate b. coding mistake when using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) system c. A and B d. a change in the International Classification of Disease (ICD) system e. fewer older persons dying from chronic diseases each year 5. Which of the following data sources is most likely to provide a representative sample of the general health status of a population? a. Hospital outpatient statistics b. Absenteeism data c. Data from public health clinics d. A morbidity survey of the general population 6. Choose the incorrect answer. The U.S. Census: a. administers a detailed questionnaire to a subset of the population b. attempts to account for every person in the country c. is called the decennial census and is administered every five years d. characterizes the population according to demographic variables e. all of the statements above are correct. 7. The best routinely available sources of data regarding the incidence of respiratory disease outbreaks and other rapidly spreading conditions are: a. death certificates b. reports of absenteeism from work and school c. case registries d. hospital records 8. Health insurance statistics provide a generally representative picture of the health status of the United States population. a. True b. False 9. An ecologic study is one that examines a group as a unit of analysis. a. True b. False 10. Controls are needed in a case-control study to evaluate whether the frequency of a factor or past exposure among the cases is different from that among comparable persons who do not have the disease under investigation a. True b. False 11. An ecologic comparison study is sometimes called a cross-sectional ecologic study. a. True b. False 12. A cross-sectional study allows the demonstration of a time sequence between exposure and disease. a. True b. False 13. MEDLINE, TOXLINE, and commercial databases are examples of online databases. a. True b. False 14. A registry is a centralized database of information about a disease. a. True b. False 15. The National Health Survey consists of several distinct programs conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. a. True b. False 16. A case-control study is purely a descriptive (as opposed to analytic) study design. a. True b. False 17. The Freedom of Information Act exempts (does not allow) the release of personal medical data. a. True b. False