Deck 19: Epidemiology and Public Policy

Question 1

When decision makers are in the process of assessing whether a new policy should be implemented to avoid a certain health risk,besides considering the scientific evidence available,they should also take into account the following societal consideration:

A) If that decision would make them look good with constituents
B) The proportion of the population would be protected by such policy
C) If that new policy was proposed by prestigious academics
D) The media's opinion about the policy
E) The incidence rate of the disease

Answer 1

B
The societal issues that should be considered when deciding about a new policy include the proportion of the population protected by that policy,costs,and willingness of the population to adopt that policy,among others.None of the other options is a societal issue that should be considered.

Question 2

The same epidemiologic question regarding the effectiveness of a treatment can be addressed by several studies.Often,there are inconsistencies between such studies.What can be done when such discrepancies are found?

A) Trust the study done by senior researchers.
B) Trust the study with bigger sample size.
C) Conduct a systematic review with a meta-analysis.
D) Trust the study that makes more sense.
E) None of the previous.

Answer 2

C
Systematic reviews with meta-analyses allow for the integration of multiple findings,and meta-analyses help to aggregate the results from a set of studies to provide a comprehensive answer to an epidemiologic question.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is not an accurate description of epidemiology in health policy?

A) A major role of epidemiology is a basis for developing policies that may affect human health.
B) One of the roles of epidemiology in public health policy is for risk assessment.
C) Some researchers use systematic review or meta-analysis to synthesize the literature regarding a specific health topic.
D) Epidemiology is the only relevant scientific discipline in the process of risk assessment.
E) Journals that may not want to publish the studies report no association will increase the publication bias.

Answer 3

D
Epidemiology is not the only relevant scientific discipline; for example,toxicology also is a relevant scientific discipline in the process of risk assessment.However,epidemiologic data are essential in each of the processes,not only in the process of risk assessment."A major role of epidemiology is a basis for developing policies that may affect human health," "One of the roles of epidemiology in public health policy is for risk assessment," "Some researchers use systematic review or meta-analysis to synthesize the literature regarding a specific health topic," and "Journals that may not want to publish the studies report no association will increase the publication bias" are accurate explanations of epidemiology in health policy.

Question 4

What is the name of the chart that is typically used to depict the results of a meta-analysis?

A) Forest plot
B) Pie chart
C) Box plot
D) Manhattan plot
E) Bar chart