Which of the following is not usually an aim of epidemiology?
Question 1
In the Yearly Mortality Bill for 1632, consumption referred to:
dysentery
tuberculosis
smallpox
edema
Question 2
Cyclic variations in the occurrence of pneumonia and influenza mortality may reflect:
seasonal variations in cases of influenza.
the fact that influenza is a disappearing disorder.
long-term changes in mortality trends.
both A and B
Question 3
Which of the following is not usually an aim of epidemiology?
To describe
the health status of the population
To fund new public health programs
To explain
the etiology of disease
To predict
the occurrence of disease
To control
the distribution of disease
Question 4
Indicate the level of prevention that is represented by screening for breast cancer
Primary Prevention Active
Primary Prevention Passive
Secondary Prevention
Tertiary Prevention
Question 5
The difference between primary and secondary prevention of disease is:
primary prevention means control of causal factors, while secondary prevention means control of symptoms.
primary prevention means control of acute disease, while secondary prevention means control of chronic disease.
primary prevention means control of causal factors, while secondary prevention means early detection and treatment of disease.
primary prevention means increasing resistance to disease, while secondary prevention means decreasing exposure to disease.
Question 6
Indicate the level of prevention that is represented by pasteurization of milk
Primary Prevention Active
Primary Prevention Passive
Secondary Prevention
Tertiary Prevention
Question 7
Determining workload and planning the scope of facilities and manpower needs, particularly for chronic disease. Is this a use for incidence or prevalence data?
This is a use primarily for incidence data.
This is a use primarily for prevalence data.
This application could apply equally for both incidence and prevalence data.
This is a use for neither incidence data nor prevalence data.
Question 8
An epidemiologic survey of roller-skating injuries in Metroville, a city with a population of 100,000 (during the midpoint of the year), produced the following data for a particular year:
Number of skaters in Metroville during any given month
12,000
Roller-skating injuries in Metroville
600
Total number of residents injured from roller-skating
1,800
Total number of deaths from roller-skating
90
Total number of deaths from all causes
900
The cause-specific mortality rate from roller-skating was:
90/600 × 100,000
90/100,000 × 100,000
90/1,800 × 100,000
90/900 × 100,000
Question 9
To provide a direct estimate of the risk of developing a disease. Is this a use for incidence or prevalence data?
This is a use primarily for incidence data.
This is a use primarily for prevalence data.
This application could apply equally for both incidence and prevalence data.
This is a use for neither incidence data nor prevalence data.
Question 10
Which of the following statements most accurately expresses the breeder hypothesis for schizophrenia?
The conditions of life in lower-class society favor its development.
The conditions of life in upper-class society favor its development.
The illness leads to the clustering of psychosis in the impoverished areas of a city.
The illness is associated with increases in creative talents, which contribute to wealth-enhancing achievements.
Question 11
Descriptive epidemiology has the following characteristics (Choose the incorrect
option):
provides the basis for planning and evaluation of health services.
allows causal inference from descriptive data.
allows comparisons by age, sex, and race.
uses case reports, case series, and cross-sectional studies.
identifies problems to be studied by analytic methods.
Question 12
A null hypothesis is most similar to which of the following?
Positive declaration
Negative declaration
Implicit question
Explicit question
Question 13
Which of the following data sources is most likely to provide a representative sample of the general health status of a population?
hospital outpatient statistics
absenteeism data
data from public health clinics
a morbidity survey of the general population
Question 14
Cautious use of information from death certificates is warranted because:
certificates are not available for everyone who dies
certificates are often erroneous for date of death and sex
cause of death information may not be correct
autopsy results are not included
Question 15
Ecologic studies:
are expensive and require a great deal of time to conduct
are a good approach for generating hypotheses
provide accurate measurements of exposure
yield results that can be applied directly to individuals
Question 16
A large medical center’s oncology program reported an increased number of cases of pancreatic cancer during a certain month. The hospital’s epidemiologist decided to research the problem. Tumor registry records were searched to identify all cases of pancreatic cancer during a five-year period; cancer patients were matched with patients treated for other diseases during the same five-year period. All subjects in the study were questioned about lifestyle factors including alcohol, tea, and coffee consumption. The resulting data are as follows:
DATA
Cancer Patients
Other Patients
Men
Women
Men
Women
LIFESTYLE VARIABLE
Alcohol
185
120
270
260
Tea Drinking
140
110
230
225
Coffee Drinking
190
140
270
240
Note: Total number of male cancer patients = 200.
Total number of female cancer patients = 150.
Total number of male patients (other diseases) = 300.
Total number of female patients (other diseases) = 300.
Does this study have an exposure status variable?
No
Yes, lifestyle
Yes, disease type
Yes, sex of patient
Question 17
In case-control studies, the odds ratio is used as an estimate of the relative risk. In order for this approximation to be reasonable, some conditions must be met. Which of the following conditions is not necessary in order to use the odds ratio to estimate the relative risk?
With respect to exposure, controls are representative of the population to which you want to generalize your results.
The event (disease) under study is rare in the population.
The exposure in question is rare in the population.
Cases are representative of all cases.
Question 18
As an epidemiologist you are going to investigate the effect of a drug suspected of causing malformations in newborn infants when the drug in question is taken by pregnant women during the course of their pregnancies. As your sample you will use the next 200 single births occurring in a given hospital. For each birth a medication history will be taken from the new mother and from her doctor; in addition, you will review medical records to verify use of the drug. [N.B.: These mothers are considered to have been followed prospectively during the entire course of their pregnancies, because a complete and accurate record of drug use was maintained during pregnancy.]
The resultant data are:
Forty mothers have taken the suspected drug during their pregnancies. Of these mothers, 35 have delivered malformed infants. In addition, 10 other infants are born with malfunctions.
The number of individuals who both did not take the drug and did not give birth to infants who were malformed was:
140
150
155
160
170
Question 20
Which of the following individuals helped draw people’s attention to the method of cohort analysis?
Snow
Frost
Graunt
Hill
Question 21
A new screening test for Lyme disease is developed for use in the general population. The sensitivity and specificity of the new test are 60% and 70%, respectively. Three hundred people are screened at a clinic during the first year the new test is implemented. Assume the true prevalence of Lyme disease among clinic attendees is 10%.
Calculate the following values:
The predictive value of a positive test is:
33.0%
18.2%
94.0%
22.2%
6.0%
Question 22
Drs. Poke and Jab (2014) conducted an employee health program that used 5 screening tests at the same time to detect diseases among workers. Which type of program is this?
Selective screening
Mass screening
Ad hoc screening
Multiphasic screening
Question 23
Sensitivity and specificity of a screening test refer to its:
reliability
validity
yield
repeatability
Question 24
You have just finished administering a food/drink questionnaire to ill and non-ill participants in a Minnesota summer picnic party. The ill individuals developed moderate to severe diarrhea 16 to 46 hours after the picnic. Six persons experienced vomiting. The following data were collected:
ATE
DID NOT EAT
Number of people
Number of people
Food item
Ill
Not ill
Total
Ill
Not ill
Total
Hot dogs
40
30
70
10
20
30
Hamburgers
32
8
40
20
40
60
Potato salad
45
25
70
15
25
40
Ice cream
48
12
60
2
38
40
Lemonade
20
40
60
20
20
40
Which food item appears to be the most probable vehicle for the salmonella (agent) infection associated with the illness?
Hot dogs
Hamburgers
Potato salad
Ice cream
Lemonade
Question 25
An outbreak of salmonellosis occurred after an epidemiology department luncheon, which was attended by 485 faculty and staff. Assume everyone ate the same food items. Sixty-five people had fever and diarrhea, five of these people were severely affected. Subsequent laboratory tests on everyone who attended the luncheon revealed an additional 72 cases.
Foods served at the luncheon included home-canned olives, chicken salad, homemade flavored drink mix, freshly baked rolls, and raw vegetables. Based on your understanding of foods that potentially are capable of transmitting salmonella, the most likely source of the outbreak was:
home-canned olives
chicken salad
drink mix
freshly baked rolls
raw vegetables
Question 26
The site where a disease agent enters the body is the:
reservoir
portal of entry
vehicle
portal of exit
Question 27
A situation in which the combined effect of several exposures is greater than the sum of the individual effects:
threshold
latency
synergism
square
Question 28
It has been suggested that occupational exposure to benzene in the petroleum industry increases the risk of developing leukemia. The levels of benzene to which workers in this industry have been exposed were high from 1940 to 1970, but since 1970 have been significantly reduced. What kind of study design, using petroleum workers, would provide the most useful information on whether benzene affects incidence rates of leukemia in this industry? You may assume that records of individual worker assignments to jobs involving benzene exposure have been maintained by the industry.
Experimental
Retrospective cohort
Prospective cohort
Case-control
Cross-sectional
Question 29
The type A behavior pattern is hypothesized to be a risk factor for:
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
coronary heart disease
rheumatoid arthritis
retirement
Question 30
Which of the following statements describes a stressful life event?
discrepancy between husband and wife in social and educational status
goodness of fit between the characteristics of the person and environment
an occurrence that might cause readjustments in people’s activities
sleeping
