Midterm Review Guide- Questions Only
Chapter 1-4
1. Question: Which of the following is a condition which may occur during the incubation
period?
2. Question: Chicken pox is a highly communicable disease. It may be transmitted by direct
contact with a person infected with the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The typical
incubation time is between 10-20 days. A boy started school 2 weeks after showing
symptoms of chicken pox including mild fever, skin rash, and fluid-filled blisters. One
month after the boy returned to school, non of his classmates had been infected by VZV.
The main reason was:
3. Question: The ability of a single person to remain free of clinical illness following
exposure to infectious agent is known as:
4. Question: Which of the following is characteristic of single-exposure, common-vehicle
outbreak?
5. Question: What is the diarrhea attack rate in persons who ate both ice cream and pizza?
6. Question: What is the OVERALL attack rate in persons who did not eat ice cream?
7. Question: Which of the food items (or combination of items) is most likely to the
infective item(s)?
8. Question: Which of the following reasons can explain why a person who did not
consume the infective food item got sick?
9. Question: An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred at a boarding school with a student
enrollment of 846.
10. Question: Same question above + Calculate the attack rates for boys and girls separately.
11. Question: Same question + What is the proportion of total cases occurring in boys?
12. Question: Same question + What is the proportion of total cases occurring in students
who live in dormitories?
13. Question: Same question + Which proportion is more informative for the purpose of the
outbreak investigation?
14. Question: A group of researchers are interested in conducting a clinical trial to determine
whether a new cholesterol-lowering agent was useful in preventing coronary heart
disease (CHD). They identified 12,327 potential participants for the trial. At the initial
clinical exam, 309 were discovered to have CHD. The remaining subjects entered the
trial and were divided equally into the treatment and placebo groups. Of those in the
treatment group, 505 developed CHD after 5 years of follow-up while 477 developed
CHD during the same period in the placebo group. What was the prevalence of CHD at
the initial exam?
15. Question: Same question + What was the incidence of CHD during the 5-year study?
16. Question: Which of the following are examples of population prevalence rate?
17. Question: What would be the effect on age-specific incidence rates of uterine cancer if
women with hysterectomies were excluded from the denominator of incidence
calculation assuming that most women who have hysterectomies are older than 50 years
of age?
, 18. Question: A survey was conducted among 1,000 randomly sampled adult males in the
United States in 2005. The results from this survey are shown below. The researchers
stated that there was a doubling of risk of hypertension in each age group younger than
60 years of age. You conclude that the researcher’s interpretation:
19. Question: The incidence and prevalence rates of a chronic childhood illness for a specific
community are given below.
20. Question: A prevalence survey conducted from January 1 through December 21, 2003
identified 580 new cases of TB in a city of 2 million persons. The incidence rate of TB in
this population has historically been 1 per 4,000 persons each year. What is the incident
rate of TB per 100,000 persons in 2003?
21. Question: Same info as above, Has the risk of TB increased or decreased during 2003?
22. Question: Which of the following is an advantage of active surveillance?
23. Question: The population of a city on February 15, 2005, was 36,000. The city has a
passive surveillance system that collects hospital and private physician reports of
influenza cases every month. During the period between 1/1 and 4/1, 2005, 2,200 new
cases of influenza occurred in the city. Of these cases, 775 persons were ill with influenza
according to surveillance reports on 4/1. The monthly incidence rate of active cases o
influenza for the 3-month period was:
24. Question: Same info + The prevalence rate of active influenzas as of 4/ 1/ 05.
25. Question: Same info –What can be inferred about influenza cases occurring in the city?
26. Question: A study found that adults older than age 50 had a higher prevalence of
pneumonia than those who were younger than age 50. Which of the following is
consistent with this finding?
27. Question: Which of the following statements are true? More than one answer may be
correct.
28. Question: A disease has an incidence of 10 per 1,000 persons per year, and 80% of those
affected will die within 1 year. Prior to the year 2000, only 50% of cases of the dease
were detected by physician diagnosis prior to death. In the year 2000, a lab test was
developed that identified 90% of cases an average of 6 months prior to symptom onset;
however, the prognosis did not improve after diagnosis. Comparing the epidemiology of
the disease prior to 2000 with the epidemiology of the disease after the development of
the lab test, which statement is true concerning the disease in 2000?
29. Question: Same info- Which statement is true concerning the duration of the disease
after the development of the lab test?
30. Question: Same info- Which statement is true concerning the disease-specific mortality
rate after the development of the lab test?
31. Question: In a coastal area of a country in which a tsunami struck, there were 100,000
deaths in a population of 2.4 million for the year ending 12/31/2005. What was the all-
cause crude mortality rate per 1,000 persons during 2005?
32. Question: In an industrialized nation, there were 192 deaths due to lung disease in miners
ages 20 to 64 years. The expected number of deaths in this occupational group, based on
age-specific death rates for lung disease in all males ages 20 to 64 years, was 238 during
1990. What was the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung diseases in miners?
33. Question: In 2001, a state enacted a law that required the use of safety seats for all
children under 7 years of age and mandatory seatbelt use for all persons. The table below
lists the number of deaths due to MVAs and the total population by age in 2000 (before
Chapter 1-4
1. Question: Which of the following is a condition which may occur during the incubation
period?
2. Question: Chicken pox is a highly communicable disease. It may be transmitted by direct
contact with a person infected with the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The typical
incubation time is between 10-20 days. A boy started school 2 weeks after showing
symptoms of chicken pox including mild fever, skin rash, and fluid-filled blisters. One
month after the boy returned to school, non of his classmates had been infected by VZV.
The main reason was:
3. Question: The ability of a single person to remain free of clinical illness following
exposure to infectious agent is known as:
4. Question: Which of the following is characteristic of single-exposure, common-vehicle
outbreak?
5. Question: What is the diarrhea attack rate in persons who ate both ice cream and pizza?
6. Question: What is the OVERALL attack rate in persons who did not eat ice cream?
7. Question: Which of the food items (or combination of items) is most likely to the
infective item(s)?
8. Question: Which of the following reasons can explain why a person who did not
consume the infective food item got sick?
9. Question: An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred at a boarding school with a student
enrollment of 846.
10. Question: Same question above + Calculate the attack rates for boys and girls separately.
11. Question: Same question + What is the proportion of total cases occurring in boys?
12. Question: Same question + What is the proportion of total cases occurring in students
who live in dormitories?
13. Question: Same question + Which proportion is more informative for the purpose of the
outbreak investigation?
14. Question: A group of researchers are interested in conducting a clinical trial to determine
whether a new cholesterol-lowering agent was useful in preventing coronary heart
disease (CHD). They identified 12,327 potential participants for the trial. At the initial
clinical exam, 309 were discovered to have CHD. The remaining subjects entered the
trial and were divided equally into the treatment and placebo groups. Of those in the
treatment group, 505 developed CHD after 5 years of follow-up while 477 developed
CHD during the same period in the placebo group. What was the prevalence of CHD at
the initial exam?
15. Question: Same question + What was the incidence of CHD during the 5-year study?
16. Question: Which of the following are examples of population prevalence rate?
17. Question: What would be the effect on age-specific incidence rates of uterine cancer if
women with hysterectomies were excluded from the denominator of incidence
calculation assuming that most women who have hysterectomies are older than 50 years
of age?
, 18. Question: A survey was conducted among 1,000 randomly sampled adult males in the
United States in 2005. The results from this survey are shown below. The researchers
stated that there was a doubling of risk of hypertension in each age group younger than
60 years of age. You conclude that the researcher’s interpretation:
19. Question: The incidence and prevalence rates of a chronic childhood illness for a specific
community are given below.
20. Question: A prevalence survey conducted from January 1 through December 21, 2003
identified 580 new cases of TB in a city of 2 million persons. The incidence rate of TB in
this population has historically been 1 per 4,000 persons each year. What is the incident
rate of TB per 100,000 persons in 2003?
21. Question: Same info as above, Has the risk of TB increased or decreased during 2003?
22. Question: Which of the following is an advantage of active surveillance?
23. Question: The population of a city on February 15, 2005, was 36,000. The city has a
passive surveillance system that collects hospital and private physician reports of
influenza cases every month. During the period between 1/1 and 4/1, 2005, 2,200 new
cases of influenza occurred in the city. Of these cases, 775 persons were ill with influenza
according to surveillance reports on 4/1. The monthly incidence rate of active cases o
influenza for the 3-month period was:
24. Question: Same info + The prevalence rate of active influenzas as of 4/ 1/ 05.
25. Question: Same info –What can be inferred about influenza cases occurring in the city?
26. Question: A study found that adults older than age 50 had a higher prevalence of
pneumonia than those who were younger than age 50. Which of the following is
consistent with this finding?
27. Question: Which of the following statements are true? More than one answer may be
correct.
28. Question: A disease has an incidence of 10 per 1,000 persons per year, and 80% of those
affected will die within 1 year. Prior to the year 2000, only 50% of cases of the dease
were detected by physician diagnosis prior to death. In the year 2000, a lab test was
developed that identified 90% of cases an average of 6 months prior to symptom onset;
however, the prognosis did not improve after diagnosis. Comparing the epidemiology of
the disease prior to 2000 with the epidemiology of the disease after the development of
the lab test, which statement is true concerning the disease in 2000?
29. Question: Same info- Which statement is true concerning the duration of the disease
after the development of the lab test?
30. Question: Same info- Which statement is true concerning the disease-specific mortality
rate after the development of the lab test?
31. Question: In a coastal area of a country in which a tsunami struck, there were 100,000
deaths in a population of 2.4 million for the year ending 12/31/2005. What was the all-
cause crude mortality rate per 1,000 persons during 2005?
32. Question: In an industrialized nation, there were 192 deaths due to lung disease in miners
ages 20 to 64 years. The expected number of deaths in this occupational group, based on
age-specific death rates for lung disease in all males ages 20 to 64 years, was 238 during
1990. What was the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung diseases in miners?
33. Question: In 2001, a state enacted a law that required the use of safety seats for all
children under 7 years of age and mandatory seatbelt use for all persons. The table below
lists the number of deaths due to MVAs and the total population by age in 2000 (before
