Molecular evidence suggests a role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal cancer. An epidemiologic study enrolled 100 hospitalized patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal cancer and 200 hospitalized patients without oropharyngeal cancer (controls). Oral HPV infection was strongly associated with oropharyngeal cancer, with 57 of the 100 patients with cancer having serologic evidence of HPV infection compared with only 14 of the 200 patients without cancer.
What is the population represented by this study?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The study enrolled both hospitalized patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal cancer and hospitalized patients without oropharyngeal cancer as controls. Therefore, the population represented by this study is hospitalized patients with or without oropharyngeal cancer. The other options are too narrow in scope and do not represent the entire population studied.

Molecular Evidence Suggests a Role for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in the Pathogenesis