Question 1

A public health nurse is curious if there has been an increase in the need for hospitalization among reported influenza cases. Which factor should the nurse prioritize for researching to answer this query?

Accepted Answer

Rate is the number of events occurring within a defined population over a specific period of time. In this case, the rate of hospitalization among reported influenza cases would provide the nurse with the necessary data to determine if there has been an increase.

Question 2

A group of nurses are compiling information for a report on the recent Salmonella outbreak for their state. Which formula will best assist with determining the rate?

Accepted Answer

C

Question 3

The nurses at a local Women's, Infant's, and Children clinic are compiling a state report for the past year. Which equation should the nurses prioritize to achieve an accurate infant mortality rate?

Accepted Answer

A

Question 4

The nursing instructor is guiding a class of nursing students through the process of determining the various rates used in epidemiologic studies. Which response from the students will indicate to the instructor they correctly grasp the concept of an adjusted rate?

Accepted Answer

An adjusted rate is a statistical procedure that accounts for differences in population composition (such as age) to allow for fair comparisons between different populations. This adjustment is crucial in epidemiological studies to ensure that the rates reflect true differences in disease occurrence and are not due to variations in population structure.

Question 5

A nurse is concerned there has been an increase in the number of influenza cases in the county over the past year when compared with last year. Which rate will best provide the answer to this nurse?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A nurse is concerned there has been...

Question 6

The nurse is measuring the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease being investigated in the entire population. Which rate is this nurse developing with this action?

Accepted Answer

The nurse is developing a crude rate, which measures the occurrence of a condition (in this case, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in the entire population without adjusting for factors like age or sex.

Question 7

The nurse wishes to compare the number of persons aged 40 to 49 years who die each year with the mid-year population of persons in this age range, per 100,000 population. Which type of rate is the nurse attempting to calculate?

Accepted Answer

The nurse is attempting to calculate a specific rate, which is a type of rate that measures the occurrence of a specific event (in this case, deaths) within a specific subgroup of the population (persons aged 40 to 49 years) per 100,000 population. This allows for comparison across different populations or subgroups.

Question 8

The nurse wishes to determine how many people in the city die from myocardial infarctions each year per 100,000 population. Which type of rate will the nurse establish in this process?

Accepted Answer

The nurse is looking to establish a Cause-specific mortality rate, which measures the mortality rate from a specific cause for a population. In this case, the specific cause is myocardial infarctions.

Question 9

A nursing student is examining an epidemiologic report for a class project. Which explanation should the student conclude will best define sensitivity?

Accepted Answer

Sensitivity is defined as the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals who have a specific disease or condition, which means it measures the probability of a positive test result among those who truly have the health problem.

Question 10

A nursing student is preparing a research paper for a class which will present the results of her investigation into the number of SIDS cases in her state versus the United States. Which formula should the student prioritize to calculate sensitivity?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A nursing student is preparing a research...

Question 11

The nurse wishes to measure the number of cases of staph infections that occur in a hospital over the course of 1 year per total client days during that year. Which measure should the nurse prioritize?

Accepted Answer

Incidence density is the most appropriate measure for this scenario because it accounts for the number of new cases of staph infections in a specific time period relative to the total person-time of observation (in this case, client days in a year). This measure is particularly useful in settings like hospitals where individuals are at varying lengths of risk exposure.

Question 12

A public health nurse is preparing a report which compares the incident rate of farm workers who are exposed to pesticides with individuals who are not exposed to the pesticides. Which factor is this nurse measuring with this information?

Accepted Answer

The nurse is measuring the relative risk ratio, which compares the risk of a certain event (in this case, the incidence of a condition) occurring in one group versus another. By comparing farm workers exposed to pesticides with those not exposed, the nurse is assessing how much more likely exposed individuals are to experience a certain outcome, which is the essence of calculating a relative risk ratio.

Question 13

The nurse wishes to calculate the probability of persons in the county developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over the course of a year. Which measure will be best for the nurse to utilize?

Accepted Answer

The incidence rate is the best measure for calculating the probability of developing a disease over a specific period, as it reflects the number of new cases in a population during a given time frame.

Question 14

The public health nurse has recently relocated to an underserved area and notes the data are out of date. Which formula will be best for the nurse to utilize to calculate the fetal mortality rate of this community?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The public health nurse has recently relocated...

Question 15

The public health nurse is working with a committee to develop a healthcare clinic for a growing group of refugees. When gathering data to determine the needed statistics, which formula will present the most accurate perinatal morality rate?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The public health nurse is working with...

Question 16

Over the course of a year, there were 42 cases of institution-associated pneumonia at a hospital. During that time, 3,102 clients were at risk for acquiring this infection, with 20,411 client days. Which is the crude incidence rate of institution-associated pneumonia at this hospital?

Accepted Answer

The crude incidence rate is calculated by dividing the number of new cases by the number of individuals at risk, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. Here, $ \frac{42}{3102} \times 100 = 1.35\% $.

Question 17

Over the course of a year, there were 67 cases of institution-associated pneumonia at a hospital. During that time, 4,876 clients were at risk for acquiring this infection, covering a total of 35,125 client days. Which is the client density in terms of number of cases per 1,000 client days at this hospital during this time?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Over the course of a year, there...

Question 18

In reviewing a study that considered the sensitivity of a particular screening test for HIV, the nurse found 21 true positives, 853 true negatives, 3 false positives, and 5 false negatives. What is the sensitivity of this test?

Accepted Answer

Sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease. It is calculated as the number of true positives divided by the sum of true positives and false negatives. In this case, the sensitivity is 21 / (21 + 5) = 0.808, or 80.8%.

Question 19

City A has a population of people who are exposed to HIV, whereas City B has a population of people who are considered nonexposed to HIV. There were 3,267 new HIV cases in a given year for City A, with a population (exposed) of 10,000,000. There were only 5 new HIV cases in the same year for City B, with a population (nonexposed) of 150,000. Which is the attributable risk of HIV occurring in City A in terms of cases per 100,000 population?

Accepted Answer

The answer of City A has a population of people...

Question 20

The nurse is maintaining a graph which depicts the distribution of influenza cases by the time of onset of influenza. Which factor is this nurse creating with this graph?

Accepted Answer

An epidemic curve is a graphical representation of the number of new cases of a disease over time. By plotting the onset of influenza cases, the nurse is creating an epidemic curve, which helps in understanding the spread and pattern of the disease outbreak.

Quiz 7: Describing Health Conditions: Understanding and Using Rates