Question 1

Which of the following is not usually an aim of epidemiology?

A.To describe the health status of the population

B.To fund new public health programs

C.To explain the etiology of disease

D.To predict the occurrence of disease

E.To control the distribution of disease

Question 2

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is responsible for (give the best answer):

A.tracking down unusual disease outbreaks in the United States and foreign countries

B.collecting epidemiologic intelligence for local health departments

C.disseminating epidemiologic information to members of the community

D.reporting suspicious epidemiologic agents to governmental agencies

Question 3

Which of the following activities characterizes a clinical approach (as opposed to an epidemiologic approach)?

A.Description of specific signs and symptoms

B.Description of seasonal trends in disease occurrence

C.Examination of disease occurrence among population groups

D.Demonstration of geographic variations in disease frequency

Question 4

Indicate the level of prevention represented by screening for breast cancer

A.Primary Prevention Active

B.Primary Prevention Passive

C.Secondary Prevention

D.Tertiary Prevention

Question 5

Cyclic variations in the occurrence of pneumonia and influenza mortality may reflect

A.seasonal variations in cases of influenza

B.the fact that influenza is a disappearing disorder

C.long-term changes in mortality trends

D.both A and B

Question 6

Which of the following terms is expressed as a proportion (as distinguished from a ratio)?

A.Male Births / Female Births 

B.Female Births / Male + Female Births 

C.Female Births / Male Births 

D.A and C

Question 7

The risk of acquiring a given disease during a time period is best determined by

A.the mortality rate from that disease in the 0-4 age group

B.a spot map that records all cases of the disease in the past year

C.the period prevalence for that disease during the past year

D.the incidence rate (cumulative incidence) for that disease in a given period of time

Question 8

An epidemiologic survey of roller-skating accidents in Metroville, a city with a population of 100,000, produced the following:

Number of skaters in Metroville during any given month: 12,000

Roller-skating accidents 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:

A.90/600 × 100,000

B.90/100,000 × 100,000

C.90/1,800 × 100,000

D.90/900 × 100,000

Question 9

The use of Geographic Information Systems may be thought of as following the heritage of

A.Graunt

B.Snow

C.Koch

D.Semmelweis

Question 10

As a characteristic of persons, age is perhaps the most important factor to consider when one is describing the occurrence of virtually any disease or illness, because

A.older people are more health conscious

B.older people seek medical treatment more often

C.there is a greater variance in age-specific disease rates than in rates defined by almost any other personal attribute

D.there are more numbers in ages than in geographical places or diseases in a population

Question 11

What factors should be considered in measuring long-term changes in disease frequency over time?

A.Changes in diagnostic criteria

B.Changes in the age distribution

C.Changes in the fatal course of the condition

D.All of the above

Question 12

According to the natural history of disease model, the time before the precursors of disease and the host interact is called the period of

A.Prepathogenesis

B.Pathogenesis

C.Primogenesis

D.B and C

Question 13

Which form of prevention takes place after the precursors of disease interact with the host?

A.Tertiary

B.Secondary

C.Primary

D.Both A and B

Question 14

In 1900, the death rate per 100,000 population for influenza and pneumonia (I & P) was 202.2; it was 22.4 in 2003. How much did the death rate due to I & P decline

A.74%

B.1000%

C.89%

D.9%

E.None of the above

Question 15

Blood pressure measurements on adult males 30-39 years of age were obtained in a survey of a representative sample of Twin Cities households. To compare the frequency of hypertension in the white and non-white population surveyed, the most appropriate measure is the

A.incidence rate

B.prevalence

C.race-specific prevalence

D.race-specific incidence rate

Reset Selection

Question 16

Incidence and prevalence data have different applications in public health. Prevalence data is used:

A.For estimating the frequency of exposure

B.To express the burden or extent of some condition or attribute in a population

C.To provide a direct estimate of the risk of developing a disease

D.A and B

Question 17

The incidence of a disease is five times greater in men than in women, but the prevalence shows no sex difference. The most likely explanation is that:

A.the mortality rate is greater in women.

B.the case fatality rate is greater in women

C.the duration of the disease is greater in women

D.women receive less adequate medical care for the disease

Question 18

High rates of mortality from hypertension found among African Americans may be due to

A.Dietary factors

B.Exposure to stress

C.Obesity

D.All of the above

Question 19

According to classic studies, age-standardized morbidity rates in the United States for acute conditions, chronic conditions, and disability due to acute conditions show the following sex differences:

A.Rates for males are higher than rates for females.

B.Rates for males are equal to the rates for females.

C.Rates for females are higher than rates for males.

D.Females have higher rates of hearing impairment than males.

E.B and D

Question 20

Descriptive epidemiology characterizes the amount and distribution of disease within a population to enable the researcher to

A.make direct tests of etiologic hypotheses

B.generate testable hypotheses regarding etiology

C.evaluate trends in health and disease within a population

D.All of the above

E.B and C only

Question 21

Studies of nativity and migration have reported that:

A.admission rates of foreign-born persons to mental hospitals were lower than for native-born persons

B.diseases found in less developed regions are no longer a problem in the United States

C.some migrants have inadequate immunization status with respect to vaccine-preventable diseases

D.immunization programs in developing countries have been highly successful

Question 22

Identify the incorrect option. Case clustering:

A.is of indeterminate significance for rare diseases, because clusters may occur by chance alone

B.suggests common exposure of a group of people to an etiologic agent

C.is called temporal clustering for geographic concentrations of cases

D.has been shown for angiosarcoma and vaginal carcinoma

E.None of these are correct

Question 23

Which of the following reasons might account for place variation in disease

A.Concentration of racial or ethnic groups within an area

B.Genetic and environment interactions

C.Influence of climate

D.Presence of environmental carcinogens

E.All of the above

Question 24

Which of Mill's four canons suggests that there is an association between frequency of disease and the potency of a causative factor

A.Difference

B.Agreement

C.Concomitant variation

D.Residues

Question 25

Using epidemiology for operational research involves:

A.study of community health services

B.study of risks to the individual

C.study of disease syndromes

D.All of the above