Question 1

A nurse is told that a screening test has high specificity.Which of the following is the best interpretation of this information?
A) The test provides precise and consistent readings.
B) The test accurately identifies those with the condition or trait.
C) The test accurately identifies those without the trait.
D) The test has a high level of false positives.

Accepted Answer

Specificity refers to the test accurately identifying those without the trait.High specificity is needed when rescreening is impractical and when reduction of false positives is important.The test would have a low level of false positives.

Question 2

A study that uses information on current health status,personal characteristics,and potential risk factors or exposures all at once is called:
A) cross-sectional.
B) ecological.
C) case-control.
D) cohort.

Accepted Answer

A cross-sectional study collects information on current health status,personal characteristics,and potential risk factors or exposures all at once.A cohort study is the type of epidemiologic study that is used to describe a group of persons enrolled in a study who share some characteristic of interest and who are followed over a period of time to observe some health outcome.An ecological model considers the multiple factors that contribute to disease development.

Question 3

A nurse is considering the potential for selection bias.Which of the following best describes the situation that is the nurse has encountered?
A) Determining the population to be studied
B) Considering how the participants will enter the study
C) Studying cause and effect relationships
D) Documenting results of the study

Accepted Answer

Selection bias is attributable to the way subjects enter a study.It has to do with selection procedures and the population from which subjects are drawn.Determining the population to be studied relates to the design of the study.Studying cause and effect relationship has to do with ecological studies.Documenting the results of the study is completed at the end of the study after the participants have been selected.

Question 4

The proportion of persons with positive test results who actually have a disease,interpreted as the probability that an individual with a positive test result has the disease,is the:
A) sensitivity.
B) specificity.
C) positive predictive value.
D) negative predictive value.

Accepted Answer

Positive predictive value refers to the proportion of persons with positive test results who actually have the disease,interpreted as the probability that an individual with a positive test result has the disease.Sensitivity quantifies how accurately the test identifies those with the condition or trait.Specificity indicates how accurately the test identifies those without the condition or trait.Negative predictive value is the proportion of persons with a negative test who are actually disease free.

Question 5

A nurse examines birth and death certificates during an epidemiologic investigation.Which of the following data categories is being used?
A) Routinely collected data
B) Data collected for other purposes but useful for epidemiologic research
C) Original data collected for specific epidemiologic studies
D) Surveillance data

Accepted Answer

Birth and death certificates are considered to be vital records and are examples of data collected routinely.Data collected for other purposes would be hospital,physician,health department,laboratory,and insurance records.Original data is that which is collected by the National Center for Health Statistics for specific health surveys.Surveillance data is used to assess and prioritize the health needs of populations,design public health and clinical services to address those needs,and evaluate the effectiveness of public health programs.

Question 6

The most important predictor of overall mortality is:
A) race.
B) age.
C) gender.
D) income.

Accepted Answer

The mortality curve by age drops sharply during and after the first year of life to a low point in childhood,then begins to increase through adolescence and young adulthood and then increases sharply through middle and older ages.Race,gender,and income are not the most important predictor for overall mortality.

Question 7

A nurse is investigating an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness from a food-borne pathogen.Which of the following terms is being applied?
A) Attack rate
B) Point epidemic
C) Secular trend
D) Event-related cluster

Accepted Answer

One temporal and spatial pattern of disease distribution is the point epidemic.A point epidemic is most clearly seen when the frequency of cases is plotted against time.The sharp peak characteristic of such graphs indicates a concentration of cases in some short interval of time.Attack rate is defined as the proportion of persons who are exposed to an agent and develop the disease.Secular trends are long-term patterns of morbidity or mortality rates.Event-related clusters are patterns in which time is not measured from fixed dates on the calendar but from the point of some exposure or event,presumably experienced in common by affected persons,although not occurring at the same time.

Question 8

During the twentieth century,a nurse participated in research that examined the epidemiology of various diseases.Which of the following best describes the factors that influenced these studies? (Select all that apply.)
A) Increasing rate of poverty
B) Declining child mortality rates
C) Overcrowding in major cities
D) Development of new vaccinations
E) Advancements in medical equipment

Accepted Answer

Factors contributing to the development and application of epidemiologic methods in the twentieth century were: improved nutrition,new vaccines,better sanitation,the advent of antibiotics and chemotherapies,and declining infant and child mortality and birth rates.A rise in the standard of living occurred for many following the Great Depression and World War II.The advancements in medical technology have not influenced the examination of the epidemiology of various diseases.

Question 9

A nurse states that he has incorporated epidemiology into his practice and functions in epidemiologic roles.Which of the following best describes the actions taken by the nurse? (Select all that apply.)
A) Policy making
B) Collection, reporting, analysis, and interpretation of data
C) Environmental risk communication
D) Documentation on patient charts and records
E) Law enforcement

Accepted Answer

Collection,reporting,analysis,and interpretation of data,environmental risk communication,and documentation on patient charts and records are examples of the use of epidemiology in practice.Policy making and law enforcement do not apply to epidemiology.

Question 10

An intervention that focuses on the tertiary level of prevention is implemented by the nurse? Which of the following did the nurse most likely complete?
A) Rehabilitative job training
B) Parenting education
C) Testicular self-examination
D) Family counseling

Accepted Answer

Tertiary prevention includes those interventions aimed at disability limitation and rehabilitation from disease,injury,or disability.Rehabilitative job training would be an example of tertiary prevention.Parenting education is an example of primary prevention.Testicular self-examination and family counseling are examples of secondary prevention.

Question 11

Voters have recently decided to have fluoride added to the city water system.Epidemiologists now want to study the effect of fluoride on dental caries in this population.Which of the following would be conducted by the epidemiologists?
A) Ecological study
B) Double-blind study
C) Community trial
D) Screening

Accepted Answer

A community trial is similar to a clinical trial,but the issue is often health promotion and disease prevention rather than treatment of existing disease.An ecological model considers the multiple factors that contribute to disease development.A double-blind study is one in which neither the subject nor the investigator knows who is receiving the treatment.A screening involves the testing of groups of individuals who are at risk for a certain condition but are not yet symptomatic.

Question 12

The type of epidemiologic study that is used to describe a group of persons enrolled in a study who share some characteristic of interest and who are followed over a period of time to observe some health outcome is a(n):
A) case-control study.
B) cross-sectional study.
C) cohort study.
D) experimental study.

Accepted Answer

A cohort study is the type of epidemiologic study that is used to describe a group of persons enrolled in a study who share some characteristic of interest and who are followed over a period of time to observe some health outcome.A case-control study uses a sample from the cohort rather than following the entire cohort over time.A cross-sectional study provides a snapshot of a population or group at one point in time.An experimental study is one in which the investigator initiates some treatment or intervention that may influence the risk or course of the disease.

Quiz 12: Epidemiology

A nurse is told that a screening test has high specificity.Which of the following is the best interpretation of this information?

A study that uses information on current health status,personal characteristics,and potential risk factors or exposures all at once is called:

A nurse is considering the potential for selection bias.Which of the following best describes the situation that is the nurse has encountered?

The proportion of persons with positive test results who actually have a disease,interpreted as the probability that an individual with a positive test result has the disease,is the:

A nurse examines birth and death certificates during an epidemiologic investigation.Which of the following data categories is being used?

The most important predictor of overall mortality is:

A nurse is investigating an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness from a food-borne pathogen.Which of the following terms is being applied?

During the twentieth century,a nurse participated in research that examined the epidemiology of various diseases.Which of the following best describes the factors that influenced these studies? (Select all that apply.)

A nurse states that he has incorporated epidemiology into his practice and functions in epidemiologic roles.Which of the following best describes the actions taken by the nurse? (Select all that apply.)

An intervention that focuses on the tertiary level of prevention is implemented by the nurse? Which of the following did the nurse most likely complete?

Voters have recently decided to have fluoride added to the city water system.Epidemiologists now want to study the effect of fluoride on dental caries in this population.Which of the following would be conducted by the epidemiologists?

The type of epidemiologic study that is used to describe a group of persons enrolled in a study who share some characteristic of interest and who are followed over a period of time to observe some health outcome is a(n) :