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62 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Definition of a variable |
Any quantity that varies. Any attribute, phenomenon, or event that can have different values |
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What is a continuous variable? |
Type of variable that can have an infinite number of values within a specified range (height, weight) |
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The closer the points lay on a scatter plot, with respect to the straight line of best fit the stronger or weaker the association? |
Stronger |
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What is the overriding question that epidemiologists ask? |
Whether a particular exposure is causally associated with a given outcome |
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Why is one to one causation rare? |
Because many diseases have more than one causal factor |
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What is a negative association? |
When the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable decreases |
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What is a graphic plotting of distribution of cases by time of onset? |
Epidemic Curve
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What is a dose relationship? |
One of the indicators used to assess a causal effect of a suspected exposure associated with an adverse health outcome |
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What is the definition of threshold? |
The lowest dose at which a particular response occurs |
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What is the latency period? |
Time period between initial exposure and measurable response |
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What is temporality? |
We must observe the cause before the effect
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What is the Hawthorne effect? |
Participants behavioral changes as a result of their knowledge of being in a study |
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What is confounding? |
The distortion of a measure of the effect of an exposure on an outcome due to the association of the exposure with other factors that influence the occurrence of the outcome |
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What is an ecologic study? |
Studies the populations and groups rather than individuals |
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What does random assigning of subjects to a study group help control for? |
Confounding |
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What is ecologic fallacy |
Association observed between variables on aggregate level that doesn't reflect at individual level |
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Used in case-control studies, a type of indirect measure of association between frequency of exposure and frequency of outcome is known as the... |
Odds ratio |
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What is a prospective cohort study? |
Subjects are classified by exposure then observed over time for new occurrences |
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What is relative risk? |
Ratio of incidence rate of exposed to not exposed |
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Laws and regulations are developed as methods of policy implementation |
True |
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Which phase of the policy cycle is considered the most important? |
Problem definition/formulation/reformulation |
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What is the major weakness of disease screening? What must it be followed by? |
Provides only preliminary info; a diagnostic confirmation of any positive results of a screening test is required |
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Reliability is to precision as validity is to... |
Accuracy |
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What is legimitization? |
Making policies legitimate or acceptable to norms of society |
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Although a measure that is invalid can be reliable is it possible for a measure that is unreliable to be valid? |
No |
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What is a cost effective analysis? |
Contrast cost and health effects of an intervention to see if it is economically worth it
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Three ways an epidemiologist can contribute to health policy formation |
1. Conducting own research 2. Being an expert witness 3. Serving on expert groups |
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What are policy actors? |
Involved in policy formation (legislature, lobbyists, citizens) |
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What is an interest group? |
Working on behalf of or in support of a cause |
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What is a dose response assessment? |
Relationship of amount of exposure and unwanted occurrence |
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What is sensitivity? |
The ability of a test to identify correctly all screened individuals who actually have the disease (can cause false negatives) |
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What is specificity? |
The ability of the test to identify only nondiseased individuals who actually do not have the disease (can cause false positives) |
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What is the formula for sensitivity? |
A/A+C |
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What is the formula for specificity? |
D/B+D |
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What is reliability? |
Ability of test to give consistent results on repeated trials |
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What is positive predictive value? |
People screened positive by the test who actually have the disease |
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What is negative predictive value? |
People screened negative that do not have the disease |
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What is the formula for positive predictive value? |
A/A+B |
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What is the formula for negative predictive value? |
D/C+D |
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Can stress be a good thing? |
Yes, from positive life events |
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Smoking around babies can increase the chances of SIDS |
True |
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What is social epidemiology? |
Examines the social distribution and social determinants of states of health |
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What is behavioral epidemiology? |
Study of the role of behavioral factors in health |
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What is lifestyle from an epidemiology perspective? |
The choice of behavioral factors that affect how we live: these choices often are a function of social influences |
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What is molecular epidemiology? |
Uses molecular markers in addition to genes to establish exposure-disease relationships |
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Can a gene be a marker for disease susceptibility but not confer risk on its own? |
Yes |
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Potentially, global warming could cause disease carrying arthropods to move towards the North? |
Yes |
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What does sewer epidemiology monitor? |
Levels of excreted drugs in the sewer system in order to assess the level of illicit drug use in the community |
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What are genetic markers of susceptibility? |
Host factor that enhances some step in the progression between exposure and disease such that the downstream step is more likely to occur |
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What are some examples of genetic markers of susceptibility? |
Hemophilia, Tay-Sachs, Down Syndrome, Sickle Cell disease |
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What are Donora Pennsylvania and London 1948 known for? |
Severe air pollution episodes |
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What are unintentional injuries? |
Unanticipated event in traffic, the workplace, or a domestic or recreational setting |
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What is forensic epidemiology? |
Investigation of public health problems caused by intentional or criminal acts. |
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Methods of forensic epidemiology |
1. Detect unusual occurrence of disease 2. Use ongoing surveillance systems 3. Case identification and confirmation 4. Develop descriptive epidemiologic profile of a group of cases |
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Four possible outcomes of testing |
True positive, false positive, true negative, false negative |
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What are the two types of errors and what do they represent? |
Type 1 Error: False positive Type 2 Error: False negative |
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What is a one sided test and two sided test? |
One sided test tests for a difference in one direction (increase in cure rate) while two sided tests test for a difference in either direction (increase or decrease) |
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What is external validity? |
Ones ability to generalize from the results of the study to an external population |
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What is a life table? |
Show what probability each age has of dying before their next birthday |
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What are person years? |
Sum of measurements of time of exposure |
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How to calculate odds ratio? |
AD/BC |
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Odds ratio numbers meaning |
>1 is positive association <1 is negative, may be protective factor =1 is no association |