Deck 4: Design Strategies and Statistical Methods in Descriptive Epidemiology

Question 1

Which of the following is not a descriptive study design?

A) Ecologic study
B) Case report/case series
C) Cohort
D) Cross-sectional
E) All of these are examples of descriptive study designs.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following study designs involves the population as the unit of analysis?

A) Ecologic study
B) Case report/case series
C) Cohort
D) Cross-sectional

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following study designs provides a useful way to obtain prevalence data?

A) Ecologic study
B) Case report/case series
C) Cohort
D) Cross-sectional

Answer 3

D

Question 4

"Sex" reflects what type of data?

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Discrete
D) Continuous

Question 5

How does a proportion differ from a rate?

A) The numerator is not contained in the denominator for a rate.
B) The numerator is not contained in the denominator for a proportion.
C) A rate is a proportion with the added dimension of time.
D) Proportions and rates are the same.

Question 6

The attack rate is associated with which of the following?

A) Cumulative incidence
B) Incidence density
C) Cases of disease occurring of an extended period of time
D) Person-years

Question 7

Suppose a highly effective new drug is discovered for treating a form of rapidly fatal cancer. Which of the following rates would be least affected by the widespread use of this drug?

A) Five-year survival rate for this type of cancer
B) Prevalence proportion for this type of cancer
C) Incidence rate for this type of cancer
D) Mortality rate for this type of cancer

Question 8

An age-adjusted rate is a weighted average of which of the following?

A) Age-specific rates
B) Point prevalence proportions
C) Attack rates
D) None of these is correct.

Question 9

Questions : Consider the following two populations.

-For the two populations below, calculate and compare the crude death rates. Next, age-adjust population B using population A as the standard. Compare the death rates again. Finally, indicate which comparison is more meaningful. Use a rate base of 1000.

Question 10

Questions : Consider the following two populations.

-What is the standardized morbidity ratio (SMR) for Population B, using Population A as the standard?

A) 68.9%
B) 63.8%
C) 1.45%
D) 74.3%
E) None of these is correct.

Question 11

Questions : Consider the following two populations.

-What is the 95% confidence interval for the crude cumulative incidence rate for Population A?

A) 7.3, 11.6
B) 14.6, 20.4
C) 14.1, 18.8
D) None of these is correct.

Question 12

If the mean age of a group of people is 45 and the median age is 50, what do you know about the distribution of ages?

A) The age distribution is skewed left.
B) The age distribution is skewed right.
C) The age distribution is symmetric.
D) There is insufficient information to know how ages are distributed.

Question 13

Suppose a simple regression model is calculated assessing the association between exercise (hours per week) and pulse per minute. Pulse is the dependent variable. The estimated slope is -0.5, r = -0.5 and r² = 0.25. Which of the following is true?

A) There is a perfect negative association.
B) 25% of the variation in pulse is explained by exercise.
C) As exercise increases by 1 hour, pulse increases by 0.5, on average.
D) There is a positive association between exercise and pulse.

Question 14

What is an appropriate technique for adjusting for confounding when the dependent variable is dichotomous?

A) Simple regression
B) Multiple regression
C) Logistic regression
D) Multiple logistic regression
E) Restriction

Question 15

The correlation coefficient is useful for measuring associations among variables in ecologic studies.

Question 16

How does prevalence proportion differ from incidence?