Question 1

Case definitions are essential for any outbreak investigation no matter which study approach is used to investigate the epidemic.

Accepted Answer

Case definitions are crucial in outbreak investigations as they provide a standard criteria for identifying and classifying cases, ensuring consistency and accuracy in data collection and analysis across different study approaches.

Question 2

The medical information in patient files is not recorded for research purposes, so records are unlikely to contain all the information that researchers would like to know.

Accepted Answer

Patient files are primarily maintained for clinical care and legal documentation, not specifically for research, which may result in missing data that researchers find valuable.

Question 3

Which of the following is defined as the percentage of members of a population who die of any condition during a specified time period?&#10;A) Morbidity rate&#10;B) Mortality rate&#10;C) Case fatality rate&#10;D) Proportionate mortality rate

Accepted Answer

The mortality rate is the percentage of members of a population who die of any condition during a specified time period.

Question 4

Some case series follow patients for days, months, or even years. In this type of study approach, the case series functionally becomes what type of study?&#10;A) Cross-sectional study&#10;B) Cohort study&#10;C) Case-control study&#10;D) Correlational study

Accepted Answer

When a case series follows patients over time, it becomes a cohort study, as it involves observing a group of individuals with a shared characteristic over a period to determine outcomes.

Question 5

Which of the following is a key characteristic to watch out for when performing a case series study?&#10;A) Lack of specificity&#10;B) Lack of sensitivity&#10;C) Lack of generalizability&#10;D) Lack of validity

Accepted Answer

Case series studies often lack generalizability because they typically involve a small, non-random sample that may not represent the broader population.

Deck 8: Case Series