Deck 4: Descriptive Epidemiology: Person, Place, Time

Question 1

The three categories of descriptive epidemiologic variables are person, place, and time.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

One of three main purposes of descriptive epidemiology is to aid in the creation of hypotheses.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Developmental problems such as congenital birth defects occur primarily late in life.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The human biological clock phenomenon is linked to place variation in diseases.

Question 5

In the United States, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among females.

Question 6

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among both males and females in the United States.

Question 7

Marriage is hypothesized to act as either a selective or a protective factor in health.

Question 8

Race and ethnicity tend to overlap with nativity and religion.

Question 9

In the 2010 Census, respondents were given the option of selecting more than one race.

Question 10

Numerous epidemiologic studies have indicated that race does not influence the incidence and prevalence of disease.

Question 11

Socioeconomic status and migration history appear to be important influences in health disparities among racial groups.

Question 12

The HHANES was a major study of health of Latinos in the United States.

Question 13

Nativity refers to place of origin of an individual.

Question 14

Socioeconomic status is an example of a place variable.

Question 15

Hollingshead and Redlich found that severe mental illness was more common in the upper than in the lower social classes.

Question 16

Infant mortality rates are higher in the upper social classes than in the lower social classes.

Question 17

The WHO is a major source of information about worldwide international variations in rates of disease.

Question 18

Vampire bat rabies increased in the 1980s as a cause of human mortality in the United Kingdom.

Question 19

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis varies according to latitude in the United States.

Question 20

Health phenomena may show cyclic variations in a person's response to temporary stressors.

Question 21

Age-specific and age-adjusted mortality rates by sex in the United States generally show the following sex difference(s):

A) Rates for males are higher than rates for females from birth to age 85 and older.
B) Rates for females are higher than rates for males from birth to age 85 and older.
C) Rates for males are higher than rates for females from age 6 to age 85 and older.
D) Rates for males are equal to rates for females during the first 5 years of life.
E) Rates for males are equal to rates for females during the first 5 years of life, and rates for males are higher than rates for females from age 6 to age 85 and older.

Question 22

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 females are higher than rates for males.
C) Rates for males are equal to rates for females.
D) Females have higher rates of hearing impairment than males.
E) Rates for females are higher than rates for males and females have higher rates of hearing impairment than males.

Question 23

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

A) dietary factors.
B) lack of participation in risk reduction programs.
C) obesity.
D) dietary factors and obesity.
E) All are correct.

Question 24

Cyclic variations in the occurrence of disease may reflect:

A) changes in exposure to infectious agents.
B) changes in the risk-taking behavior of persons.
C) changes in temporary stressors.
D) endogenous biologic factors.
E) All are correct.

Question 25

The use of GIS may be thought of as following the heritage of:

A) Hippocrates.
B) Graunt.
C) Snow.
D) Koch.
E) Semmelweis.

Question 26

Descriptive epidemiology characterizes the amount and distribution of disease within a population and enables 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 are correct.
E) generate testable hypotheses regarding etiology and evaluate trends in health and disease within a population.

Question 27

The descriptive epidemiologic variable AGE is related to:

A) homicides and suicides.
B) mortality from unintentional injuries.
C) the occurrence of chronic disease.
D) congenital malformations and infectious disease incidence in childhood.
E) All are correct.

Question 28

Reasons for gender differences in mortality may include:

A) greater risk taking by women.
B) greater frequency of smoking among men.
C) higher prevalence of coronary-prone behavior among women.
D) greater risk taking by women and higher prevalence of coronary-prone behavior among women.
E) All are correct.

Question 29

Marital status is an important descriptive epidemiologic variable because it is:

A) associated with high suicide rates among married females.
B) theorized to be a selective factor in health.
C) theorized to be a protective factor in health.
D) theorized to be a protective and selective factor in health.

Question 30

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) immunization programs in developing countries have been highly successful.
D) some migrants have inadequate immunization status with respect to vaccine-preventable diseases.

Question 31

Which of the following statements most accurately expresses the downward-drift hypothesis for schizophrenia?

A) The conditions of life in lower-class society favor its development.
B) The conditions of life in upper-class society favor its development.
C) The illness leads to the clustering of psychosis in the impoverished areas of a city.
D) The illness is associated with increases in creative talents, which contribute to wealth-enhancing achievements.

Question 32

Which of the following statements about case clustering is incorrect.

A) It is of indeterminate significance for rare diseases, because clusters may occur by chance alone.
B) It suggests common exposure of a group of people to an etiologic agent.
C) It is called temporal clustering for geographic concentrations of cases.
D) It has been shown for angiosarcoma and vaginal carcinoma.

Question 33

Large international variations in rates of infectious and communicable diseases as well as other conditions are most likely explained by:

A) differences in climate.
B) differences in cultural factors.
C) national dietary habits.
D) access to health care.
E) All are correct.

Question 34

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 are correct.

Question 35

A null hypothesis is most similar to which of the following?

A) Positive declaration
B) Negative declaration
C) Implicit question
D) None of these is correct.

Question 36

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 37

Which of the following statements most accurately expresses the breeder hypothesis for schizophrenia?

A) The conditions of life in lower-class society favor its development.
B) The conditions of life in upper-class society favor its development.
C) The illness leads to the clustering of psychosis in the impoverished areas of a city.
D) The illness is associated with increases in creative talents, which contribute to wealth-enhancing achievements.

Question 38

Which of the following is not a characteristic of epidemiology?

A) It provides the basis for planning and evaluation of health services.
B) It allows causal inference from descriptive data.
C) It allows comparisons by age, sex, and race.
D) It uses case reports, case series, and cross-sectional studies.
E) It identifies problems to be studied by analytic methods.

Question 39

Between 1975 and 1990, lung cancer mortality among women increased much faster than among men. What factor(s) would most likely account for this increased cancer rate?

A) Women smoked more than previously.
B) Women participated more frequently in lung cancer screening.
C) Women developed more severe forms of lung cancer.
D) Women smoked more than previously and developed more severe forms of lung cancer.
E) All are correct.

Question 40

Match the following terms with their correct definition. Definition options:
Case clustering

A) Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year
B) The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously
C) An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time
D) An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure
E) An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence.

Question 41

Match the following terms with their correct definition. Definition options:
Common source epidemic

A) Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year
B) The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously
C) An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time
D) An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure
E) An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence.

Question 42

Match the following terms with their correct definition. Definition options:
Continuous common source epidemic

A) Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year
B) The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously
C) An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time
D) An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure
E) An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence.

Question 43

Match the following terms with their correct definition. Definition options:
Cyclic fluctuations

A) Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year
B) The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously
C) An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time
D) An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure
E) An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence.

Question 44

Match the following terms with their correct definition. Definition options:
Point epidemic

A) Increases and decreases in the frequency of diseases over a period of years or within each year
B) The response of a group of people circumscribed in a place to a common etiologic factor to which they were exposed almost simultaneously
C) An unusual aggregation of health events grouped together in space or time
D) An outbreak that lasts longer than the time span of a single incubation period and is caused by a common source of exposure
E) An outbreak due to exposure of a group of persons to the same noxious influence.

Question 45

List 10 characteristics of PERSON that are used in epidemiologic studies. For each characteristic, explain how it is associated with the distribution of health outcomes in a population by selecting an example of a specific disease. (You may use a different disease for each characteristic of PERSON or you may choose a single disease for all.)