Deck 1: History and Scope of Epidemiology

Question 1

Public health practice is oriented toward disease prevention and continuing health improvement.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

E. coli O157:H7 is not considered a threat to the food supply of the United States.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In the United States, anthrax usually affects livestock, some wild animals, and humans.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Most of the time, epidemiologic researchers confront a problem that has a clear etiologic basis.

Question 5

The epidemiologic and clinical descriptions of a disease are different.

Question 6

In current thinking, the term epidemic is used only to describe outbreaks of infectious disease.

Question 7

Socrates popularized the notion that the environment is associated with human disease.

Question 8

John Graunt is known as the Columbus of biostatistics.

Question 9

John Snow is credited with developing the smallpox vaccination.

Question 10

One of William Farr's contributions to public health and epidemiology included the development of a more sophisticated system for codifying medical conditions.

Question 11

Koch published Die Aetiologie der Tuberkulose in 1882, a breakthrough that led to improved classification of disease by specific causal organisms.

Question 12

The 1918 influenza pandemic is also known as "the Mother of All Pandemics."

Question 13

The Framingham Heart Study, begun in 1948, pioneered research into coronary heart disease risk factors.

Question 14

Environmental and occupational health problems are a specialization of epidemiology.

Question 15

The study of diseases linked to harmful physical energy, such as ionizing radiation, would be outside the scope of epidemiology.

Question 16

Molecular epidemiology applies the techniques of molecular biology to epidemiologic studies.

Question 17

Which of the following activities characterizes a clinical approach (as opposed to an epidemiologic approach)?

A) Description of specific signs and symptoms in a patient
B) Description of seasonal trends in disease occurrence
C) Examination of disease occurrence among population groups
D) Demonstration of geographic variations in disease frequency

Question 18

In the Yearly Mortality Bill for 1632, consumption referred to:

A) dysentery.
B) tuberculosis.
C) smallpox.
D) edema.

Question 19

John Snow, in Snow on Cholera:

A) was the father of modern biostatistics.
B) established postulates for transmission of infectious disease.
C) was an early epidemiologist who used natural experiments.
D) argued that the environment was associated with diseases such as malaria.

Question 20

Which of the following activities characterizes an epidemiologic approach (as opposed to a clinical approach)?

A) Description of a single individual's symptoms
B) Surveillance of a population
C) Treatment of a patient with diagnosed illness
D) Description of a single individual's symptoms and treatment of a patient with a diagnosed illness

Question 21

Cyclic variations in the occurrence of pneumonia and influenza mortality may reflect:

A) seasonal variations in cases of influenza.
B) the fact that influenza is a disappearing disorder.
C) long-term changes in mortality trends.
D) seasonal variations in cases of influenza and the fact that influenza is a disappearing disorder.

Question 22

Which of the following is not usually an aim of epidemiology?

A) To describe the health status of the population
B) To fund new public health programs
C) To explain the etiology of disease
D) To predict the occurrence of disease
E) To control the distribution of disease

Question 23

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is responsible for:

A) tracking down disease outbreaks in the United States and foreign countries.
B) collecting routine epidemiologic data for local health departments.
C) printing epidemiologic reports for members of the community.
D) reporting suspicious bioterrorism agents to governmental agencies.

Question 24

Trace the history of epidemiology from approximately 400 BC to the late 1800s. Identify at least three major historical developments and three major historical figures and their contributions to the field of epidemiology.