#1
Which of the following measures of disease frequency is defined as the number of existing cases of a disease in a population at a specified time?
Prevalence
ExplanationPrevalence measures the proportion of existing cases in a population at a given time.
#2
Which epidemiological study design is best suited for examining rare diseases or outcomes?
Case-control study
ExplanationCase-control studies are efficient for studying rare diseases as they start with individuals with the outcome and compare them to those without.
#3
Which of the following is NOT a common measure of central tendency?
Range
ExplanationRange is a measure of dispersion, not central tendency; common measures of central tendency include mean, median, and mode.
#4
Which of the following study designs is most appropriate for investigating the effectiveness of a new medical treatment?
Randomized controlled trial
ExplanationRandomized controlled trials are considered the gold standard for assessing the efficacy of medical treatments as they minimize bias.
#5
What is the primary goal of public health interventions?
To prevent disease and promote health in populations
ExplanationPublic health interventions aim to prevent diseases, promote health, and prolong life within populations.
#6
Which epidemiological study design is most suitable for studying the prevalence of a disease?
Cross-sectional study
ExplanationCross-sectional studies assess disease prevalence at a specific point in time, making them suitable for studying disease prevalence.
#7
What does the term 'Herd Immunity' refer to?
The indirect protection from infectious diseases that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection
ExplanationHerd immunity is achieved when a significant portion of the population becomes immune, reducing the spread of infectious diseases.
#8
Which statistical measure is used to describe the spread of values in a dataset?
Standard deviation
ExplanationStandard deviation quantifies the dispersion of data points from the mean in a dataset.
#9
What is the primary purpose of randomization in clinical trials?
To ensure that the treatment groups are comparable
ExplanationRandomization helps to eliminate bias and ensures that treatment groups are similar, enabling valid comparisons.
#10
What is the purpose of a 95% confidence interval in epidemiological studies?
To provide a range of values where the true population parameter is likely to lie
ExplanationConfidence intervals estimate the range within which the true population parameter is likely to fall with a certain level of confidence.
#11
What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?
An epidemic is a sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease within a community or region, while a pandemic is an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents.
ExplanationEpidemics are localized outbreaks, while pandemics are global epidemics affecting multiple countries or continents.
#12
Which of the following is a measure of association commonly used in cohort studies?
Relative risk
ExplanationRelative risk assesses the likelihood of an event happening in one group compared to another in cohort studies.
#13
In epidemiology, what is the term for the process of determining the cause of a disease or condition?
Etiology
ExplanationEtiology is the study of the causes or origins of diseases.
#14
What is the basic reproductive number (R0) in epidemiology?
The number of secondary cases generated from a single primary case in a susceptible population.
ExplanationR0 indicates the average number of new cases generated by each existing case in a population where everyone is susceptible.
#15
What is the main advantage of using relative risk over odds ratio?
Relative risk is easier to interpret.
ExplanationRelative risk directly measures the risk in exposed versus unexposed groups, making it easier to interpret compared to odds ratio.