Deck 8: Gathering Evidence for Public Health Practice

Question 1

The nurse is preparing a research study on the number of heart attacks in the community and the number of individuals who are actively involved in exercise programs following a heart attack. Which gold standard for a research design should this nurse prioritize?

A) Randomized, control group
B) Quasi experimental
C) Experimental
D) Descriptive epidemiologic

Answer 1

Randomized, control group

Question 2

The nurse is preparing to do a research study on the effects of tight insulin control for diabetes. Which study design should the nurse prepare to utilize to complete this project?

A) Retrospective
B) Quasi experimental
C) Experimental
D) Randomized, control group

Answer 2

Randomized, control group

Question 3

The nurse is reading various research articles that review causality. Which type of research design will the nurse anticipate to be utilized in these articles? (Select all that apply.)

A) Retrospective
B) Quasi experimental
C) Experimental
D) Randomized, control group
E) Case controlled

Answer 3

Quasi experimental
Experimental
Randomized, control group

Question 4

The nurse conducts a study that will follow a group of subjects for two decades. It involves one group of subjects who have a risk factor for developing diabetes and another group who do not have a risk factor. The goal is to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the existence of the risk factor and the occurrence of diabetes. Which study design should the nurse prioritize?

A) Cohort
B) Case control
C) Preventive
D) Therapeutic

Question 5

The nurse is participating in a study that considers the effect that use of netting around beds has on the incidence of malaria in a community of subjects in Africa. Which type of study should the nurse conclude will be the best for this project?

A) Cohort
B) Case control
C) Preventive
D) Therapeutic

Question 6

The nurse is conducting a study on heart clients who are actively involved in exercise programs following a heart attack. Which threat would the nurse point out as detrimental to internal validity?

A) Some subjects run faster on the treadmill when a researcher walks through the room.
B) Including an exciting new cross-fit training program as one of the exercise options that can accommodate a few of the study subjects
C) Your fervent belief from personal experience that intense cardiovascular exercise can speed recovery and prevent further heart attacks
D) Using a variety of stationary bicycles for stress testing

Question 7

The nurse is conducting a study that will consider how heart clients respond to various interventions following a heart attack. The nurse is concerned about the threat that testing could pose to the internal validity of the study. Which factor is the nurse most concerned about?

A) The long commute that a subject must take to a testing center as part of the study might change the subject's response to an intervention.
B) One subject develops an unrelated anemia, which causes fatigue, which in turn affects the outcome of the study.
C) Multiple measurements of participants' cortisol levels could cause stress in the participants and thus influence their cortisol levels, thereby altering the outcome of the study.
D) Mistakes are made when a number of subjects who should have been assigned to one intervention group are assigned to another, which may affect the outcome of the study.

Question 8

The nurse analyzes published research studies on the number of heart clients who are actively involved in exercise programs following a heart attack in preparation of conducting similar research. Which threat to external validity must be considered as the nurse prepares to conduct this research?

A) Loss of a subject due to a second heart attack
B) Selection of a subject who does not meet the eligibility criteria for the study
C) A subject pedaling faster on the stationary bicycle whenever an examiner walks in the room
D) An unexpected increase in a subject's appetite that could affect the study

Question 9

The nurse is conducting a study on how regular physical activity affects the risk for developing lung cancer among smokers. One group leads a sedentary lifestyle whereas the other has agreed to undergo regular supervised exercise in the gym of a local hospital. During the study, the sole treadmill in the gym broke down and was unable to be used for the last half of the study. Several study participants who preferred the treadmill to other machines did not exercise as long or as intensely as they might otherwise have. Which threat to the external validity of the study does this represent?

A) Interaction of history and intervention
B) Interaction of selection and intervention
C) Experimenter/participant effect
D) Novelty

Question 10

The nurse wishes to conduct a study on the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy in alleviating symptoms of depression. One group of subjects would attend regular counseling sessions in the company of a dog, whereas the other group would attend regular counseling sessions without a dog present. Which function will the dogs provide for this research project?

A) Control group
B) Treatment group
C) Intervention
D) Placebo

Question 11

A nurse is comparing several research projects which have utilized a prospective study approach. Which factor should the nurse most anticipate will be present in these projects?

A) Descriptive study in which participants are enrolled before the health outcome of interest has occurred
B) Analytic study in which participants are enrolled before the health outcome of interest has occurred
C) Descriptive study in which participants are enrolled after the health outcome of interest has occurred
D) Analytic study in which participants are enrolled after the health outcome of interest has occurred

Question 12

The nurse reads a published analytical research study that compares one group of clients who developed diabetes mellitus before the start of the study with a group of clients without diabetes mellitus. Which type of study design could the nurse point out was used in this study?

A) Case control
B) Case
C) Clinical trial
D) Cohort

Question 13

The nurse researches the relationship between frequent ingestion of fast foods and obesity. The nurse finds that in a population that eats at least five fast food meals per week on average, the incidence rate of people who are obese is 735/1,000 population. In the population that eats only one fast food meal per week on average, the incidence rate of people who are obese is 245/1,000 population. Based on these findings, what is the relative risk of developing obesity in those who eat at least five fast food meals per week?

A) 0.3
B) 0.7
C) 1
D) 3

Question 14

A team of nurses are preparing to conduct a case-control study in their community. Which advantages will these nurses most likely experience by utilizing this form of research? (Select all that apply).

A) Allows for the examination of multiple exposures for a single outcome
B) Allows for the direct measure of the incidence of a disease
C) Is generally quicker and less expensive to conduct than cohort studies
D) Appropriate for studying rare exposures
E) Requires fewer case subjects

Question 15

Clients in the nurse's caseload have been requested to participate in a therapeutic trial about H1N1 influenza. Which end result should the nurse point out is the goal of this project?

A) Is based on primary prevention of H1N1 influenza
B) Is dependent variable manipulated by the researcher
C) Focuses on limiting the spread of H1N1 influenza
D) Focuses on reducing the incidence of H1N1 influenza

Question 16

A team of nurses are conducting a research project and are determined to ensure they achieve the best results. Which factor will help ensure that the study's results are not due to chance alone?

A) Rejecting the null hypothesis
B) Setting the p value to 0.05
C) Calculating the risk ratio
D) Using a preventive study design

Question 17

The team is reviewing the data that has been collected to begin the process of preparing the report. Which result would best indicate a type II error has occurred?

A) The null hypothesis is rejected when it is true
B) One rejects the alternative hypothesis when it is false
C) The null hypothesis is accepted when it is false
D) One accepts the alternative hypothesis when it is true

Question 18

The nurse studies the association of lead poisoning with residence in a home that was built before 1970. Which needs to be established to show an association between these two variables?

A) A statistical relationship between lead poisoning and residence in a home built before 1970
B) That the presence or absence of residence in a home built before 1970 determines the presence or absence, respectively, of lead poisoning
C) A relative risk of 1
D) A p value >0.1

Question 19

The nurse wishes to conduct research on the number of cancer clients who are actively involved in exercise programs following chemotherapy. To prepare, the nurse reviews similar, published research studies. The nurse knows that maturation can be a threat to internal validity of the research study. Which is the best example of maturation?

A) A heat wave occurred during the study and clients who normally exercised outside were unable to do so
B) A client developed fatigue and was unable to complete the exercise program
C) Repeated stress tests on stationary bicycles demotivated clients from participating
D) Inclusion of a former Olympic athlete in the study skewed the results

Question 20

The nurse reviews published research studies on clients with developmental disabilities who receive music therapy once a week. What type of research study would entail an in-depth analysis of one group of developmentally disabled individuals and the effects of music therapy?

A) Case control
B) Case
C) Clinical trial
D) Cohort

Question 21

The nurse is conducting a cross-sectional study of people who are HIV positive and their exposure to certain risk factors. Which factors should the nurse most anticipate to be included with this project? (Select all that apply.)

A) Respondents are a sample that represents the entire population
B) The results of the study will allow determination of cause and effect
C) Data represent a point in time
D) Data are gathered via a questionnaire or interview
E) Subjects are randomly assigned to treatment and control groups