8.4.1 Epidemiological Studies

• What is the primary focus of epidemiology?

  Health-related states
• Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations
• Experimental epidemiological studies involve manipulating variables to test causal relationships.
• Match the type of study with its description:

  Observational ↔️ Observe data without intervention

  Experimental ↔️ Manipulate variables to test causation
• Cohort studies follow a group of people over time to determine incidence and risk factors
• What type of study compares cases with controls to identify past exposures?

  Case-Control
• Cross-sectional studies estimate prevalence and explore associations at a single point in time.
• Incidence measures the rate at which new cases of a disease occur in a population over a specific period
• What does prevalence measure in epidemiology?

  Existing cases
• Incidence is calculated by dividing the number of new cases by the total population at risk.
• Arrange the following measures in order of their primary focus:

  1️⃣ Incidence: Rate of new cases

  2️⃣ Prevalence: Proportion of affected individuals
• Incidence is calculated by dividing the number of new cases by the total population at risk
• Match the measure with its usefulness:

  Incidence ↔️ Understanding disease spread

  Prevalence ↔️ Assessing disease burden
• What is a confounding variable in epidemiological studies?

  Distorts exposure-outcome relationship
• Selection bias occurs when the study population is not representative of the broader population
• Recall bias affects retrospective studies due to inaccurate memory of past exposures.
• What is the impact of observer bias on epidemiological results?

  Systematic errors
• What is the ecological fallacy in epidemiological studies?

  Inferences at population level don't apply to individuals
• Selection bias occurs when the study population is not representative of the general population
• Recall bias involves the accurate recollection of past exposures.

  False
• What is observer bias in epidemiological studies?

  Researchers unconsciously influence data
• Loss to follow-up bias can lead to an underestimation of disease risk
• What is a confounding variable in epidemiological studies?

  A factor influencing both exposure and outcome
• Time and resources are not significant constraints in epidemiological studies.

  False
• Match the limitation or bias with its description:

  Confounding variables ↔️ Distort the true relationship between exposure and outcome

  Ecological fallacy ↔️ Inferences at the population level do not apply to individuals

  Recall bias ↔️ Inaccurate recollection of past exposures

  Loss to follow-up bias ↔️ Dropouts in cohort studies have systematically different characteristics
• Epidemiological studies are crucial in health research as they help identify risk factors
• What is one application of epidemiological studies in public health policy?

  Controlling disease outbreaks
• Estimating disease burden is part of health service planning informed by epidemiological studies.
• Match the application of epidemiological studies with its description:

  Disease prevention ↔️ Identifying risk factors for targeted interventions

  Public health policy ↔️ Informing policies to control and prevent disease outbreaks

  Health service planning ↔️ Estimating disease burden to allocate resources
• What is an example of disease prevention informed by epidemiological studies?

  Identifying smoking as a risk factor for lung cancer
• Vaccination policies are based on epidemiological data
• Allocating resources for diabetes care based on prevalence is an example of health service planning.
• Define epidemiology.

  Study of health-related patterns
• Epidemiological studies can be observational or experimental
• Match the type of epidemiological study with its purpose:

  Cohort studies ↔️ Determine disease incidence and identify risk factors

  Case-control studies ↔️ Compare past exposures of affected and unaffected groups
• What are the two main types of epidemiological studies based on research design?

  Observational and experimental
• Observational studies are cost-effective and can study large populations, but they cannot establish causation
• Experimental studies can establish causation but are resource-intensive and raise ethical concerns.
• What is the primary purpose of cohort studies in epidemiology?

  Determine disease incidence and identify risk factors
• Cohort studies follow a group over time to see who develops the disease based on exposure to risk factors