Deck 11: Epidemiology

Question 1

To understand the causes of health and disease, which of the following does epidemiology study?

A) Individuals
B) Families
C) Groups
D) Populations

Answer 1

Populations

Question 2

The rate that best indicates the proportion of people exposed to an agent who develop the disease is:

A) Attack rate
B) Incidence
C) Prevalence
D) Susceptibility

Answer 2

Attack rate

Question 3

An epidemic occurs when the rate of disease, injury, or other condition exceeds the usual level of that condition. Which of the following would be considered an epidemic?

A) "Bird" flu in China
B) Adult obesity in the United States
C) An isolated case of smallpox in Africa
D) The nursing shortage in the United States

Answer 3

Adult obesity in the United States

Question 4

The field of epidemiology continues to evolve. Which of the following is a major contribution of epidemiology?

A) Understanding of the factors that contribute to health and disease
B) The invention of health promotion and cure of disease
C) The eradication of infectious organism
D) Making health policy regarding the direction of health services

Question 5

A measure of morbidity often used in infectious disease investigations is the attack rate. Attack rates are often specific to an exposure. An example of an attack rate is:

A) The number of cases of cancer recorded at a medical center
B) The number of people who died of cholera in India in a given year
C) The number of beef cattle inoculated against mad-cow disease on a farm
D) The proportion of people becoming ill after eating at a fast-food restaurant

Question 6

When the rate of disease, injury, or other condition exceeds the usual level of that condition, it is called:

A) A pandemic
B) Endemic
C) An epidemic
D) Mortality

Question 7

A screening for diabetes revealed 20 previously diagnosed diabetics and 10 probable new cases, which were later confirmed, for a total of 30 cases. This is called:

A) Prevalence
B) Incidence
C) Attack
D) Morbidity

Question 8

With the increase in chronic disease, epidemiologists realized the necessity of looking beyond single agents toward a multifactorial etiology. What does this imply?

A) Genetics and molecular structure of disease is paramount.
B) Single organisms that cause a disease such as cholera must be studied in more detail.
C) Focus should be on the factors or combinations and levels of factors contributing to disease.
D) The recent rise in infectious disease is the main focus.

Question 9

The method that attempts to identify the determinants of disease in individuals is referred to as:

A) Descriptive epidemiology
B) Analytic epidemiology
C) Intervention study
D) Ecological study

Question 10

The probability an event will occur within a specified period of time is called:

A) Rate
B) Risk
C) Epidemiology
D) Epidemic

Question 11

An epidemiologist wanting to know what caused severe diarrhea and vomiting in several people at a local banquet would be using which of the following?

A) Descriptive epidemiology
B) Analytic epidemiology
C) Distribution
D) Determinants

Question 12

John Snow is called the "father of epidemiology" because of his work with:

A) Cholera
B) Malaria
C) Polio
D) Germ theory

Question 13

Which of the following looks at health outcomes in terms of what, who, where, and when?

A) Descriptive epidemiology
B) Analytic epidemiology
C) Distribution
D) Determinants

Question 14

The epidemiologic triangle consists of three components: agent, host, and environment. Which of the following is an example of an agent?

A) Human population distribution
B) Salmonella
C) Genetic susceptibility
D) Climate

Question 15

Mortality rates are key epidemiologic indicators to nurses. They reflect serious health problems and changing patterns of disease. Which of the following is true about mortality rates? Mortality rates:

A) Are informative only for fatal diseases
B) Provide information about existing disease in the population
C) Are calculated using a population estimate at year-end
D) Reveal the risk of getting a particular disease

Question 16

Which of the following would be considered a serious epidemic of influenza?

A) 50 cases
B) 100 cases
C) 500 cases
D) Unable to determine with information given because the denominator was not given.

Question 17

Which of the following are the factors, exposures, characteristics, and behaviors that determine patterns of disease?

A) Descriptive epidemiology
B) Analytic epidemiology
C) Distribution
D) Determinants

Question 18

The number of new cases developing in a population at risk during a specified period is called what kind of rate?

A) Prevalence
B) Incidence
C) Attack
D) Morbidity

Question 19

The measure of the frequency of a health event in a "defined population in a specified period of time" is a:

A) Ratio
B) Rate
C) Proportion
D) Risk

Question 20

The patterns of health events of populations are:

A) Descriptive epidemiology
B) Analytic epidemiology
C) Distribution
D) Determinants

Question 21

Vocational rehabilitation of a person with a neuromuscular disease is an example of:

A) Primary prevention
B) Secondary prevention
C) Tertiary prevention
D) Health promotion

Question 22

The type of epidemiologic study that is used to describe a group of persons enrolled in a study who share some characteristic of interest and who are followed over a period of time to observe some health outcome is a(n):

A) Case control study
B) Cross-sectional study
C) Cohort study
D) Experimental study

Question 23

Data that are collected through vital records, such as birth and death certificates, are an example of which category of data sources commonly used in epidemiologic investigations?

A) Routinely collected data
B) Data collected for other purposes but useful for epidemiologic research
C) Original data collected for specific epidemiologic studies
D) Surveillance data

Question 24

A study that uses information on current health status, personal characteristics, and potential risk factors or exposures all at once is called:

A) Cross-sectional
B) Ecological
C) Case-control
D) Cohort

Question 25

An outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness from a food-borne pathogen is an example of a/an:

A) Attack rate
B) Point epidemic
C) Secular trend
D) Event-related cluster

Question 26

Immunization for measles is an example of:

A) Primary prevention
B) Secondary prevention
C) Tertiary prevention
D) Health promotion

Question 27

Screening for hearing defects is an example of:

A) Primary prevention
B) Secondary prevention
C) Tertiary prevention
D) Health promotion

Question 28

Voters have recently decided to have fluoride added to the city water system. Epidemiologists wanting to study the effect of fluoride on dental caries would be conducting a:

A) Ecologic study
B) Double-blind study
C) Community trial
D) Screening

Question 29

The proportion of persons with a positive test who actually have a disease, interpreted as the possibility that an individual with a positive test has the disease is the:

A) Sensitivity
B) Specificity
C) Positive predictive value
D) Negative predictive value

Question 30

Public health professionals refer to three levels of prevention as tied to specific stages in the:

A) Epidemiologic triangle
B) Web of causation
C) Natural history of disease
D) Surveillance process

Question 31

An example of tertiary prevention is:

A) Rehabilitative job training
B) Parenting education
C) Testicular self-examination
D) Family counseling

Question 32

An example of secondary prevention is:

A) Rehabilitation
B) Avoidance of high-risk behaviors
C) Immunizations
D) Mammograms

Question 33

The interaction between an agent, a host, and the environment is called:

A) Natural history of disease
B) Risk
C) Web of causality
D) Epidemiologic triangle

Question 34

Nurses incorporate epidemiology into their practice and function in epidemiologic roles in a number of ways. They include which of the following? Select all that apply.

A) Policy making and enforcement
B) Collection, reporting, analysis, and interpretation of data
C) Environmental risk communicators
D) Providing documentation on patient charts and records important for reviews

Question 35

The most important predictor of overall mortality is:

A) Race
B) Age
C) Gender
D) Income

Question 36

You are told that a screening test has high specificity. This means that the test:

A) Provides precise and consistent readings
B) Accurately identifies those with the condition or trait
C) Accurately identifies those without the trait
D) Has a high level of false positives

Question 37

A prospective cohort study is also called:

A) Longitudinal
B) Historical
C) Case-control
D) Cross-sectional

Question 38

Which of the following is an estimate of the risk of death from some specific disease in the population?

A) Case fatality rate (CFR)
B) Proportionate mortality
C) Cause-specific mortality rate
D) Mortality rate

Question 39

An example of primary prevention is:

A) Pap smear
B) Blood pressure screening
C) Diet and exercise
D) Physical therapy