Deck 3: Epidemiology: The Study of Disease, Injury, and Death in the Community

Question 1

An epidemic curve depicting a distribution of cases traceable to multiple sources of exposure is a:

A) point source epidemic curve.
B) propagated epidemic curve.
C) case control study.
D) descriptive study.

Answer 1

B
Explanation: Administrative controls include staffing policies (having more staff is generally safer than having fewer staff), procedures for opening and closing the workplace, and reviewing employee duties (such as handling money) that may be especially risky.

Question 2

When using criteria of causation, the criterion that addresses the issue of whether the association has been reported in a variety of people, has been exposed in a variety of settings, and can have repeatable results by other researchers is:

A) strength.
B) specificity.
C) temporality.
D) consistency.

Answer 2

D
Explanation: The consistency criterion asks: Has the association been reported in a variety of people exposed in a variety of settings? Are the results repeatable by other researchers?

Question 3

The number of events that occur in a given population in a given period of time is a:

A) rate.
B) case.
C) pandemic.
D) notifiable disease.

Answer 3

A
Explanation: A rate is the number of events of interest (births, cases of disease, or deaths) in a given population over a given period or at a given point in time.

Question 4

A primary care physician is concerned with the course of a disease in an individual, whereas an epidemiologist is concerned with the course of disease in a population.

Question 5

The average number of years a person from a specific cohort is projected to live from a given point in time is his or her life expectancy.

Question 6

Explain why rates are important to epidemiologists.

Question 7

Explain why one would use an age-adjusted rate.

Question 8

Describe the process for reporting notifiable diseases from individuals to the CDC.

Question 9

What are the three ways the objectives of the National Health Survey Act of 1956 are being fulfilled?

Question 10

What questions are descriptive studies designed to answer?

Question 11

Describe how epidemiologists might determine where an outbreak occurred.

Question 12

List and describe the two types of analytic studies.