Principles of Epidemiology
Final Exam
PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
FINAL EXAM – MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION NAME: ____
Please select the single best answer among for each of the following questions. Questions are worth 1 point each.
1. A researcher is interested in studying the rate of diabetes among patients with hypertension. Which part of the
epidemiologic definition is represented by the underlined text?
a. Study
b. Distribution
c. Specified populations
d. Application to control
2. The Anopheles mosquito is a species that picks up the parasite plasmodium. Although harmless to the
mosquito, plasmodium can cause malaria when infected into a human. In this example, the mosquito
represents which of the following components of the epidemiologic triad?
a. Vector
b. Host
c. Agent
d. Environment
3. A famous news outlet claims that the states with the highest average sodium consumption also have the highest
rates of hypertension. They then claim that based on this finding, high sodium diets are associated with
increased risk of hypertension. The main limitation of this claim is:
a. The disease is very rare
b. The disease is very common
c. Ecologic fallacy
d. The data was not blinded
4. Among patients without diabetes, the probability of having a glucose value < 120 is 95%. Which of the following
statements is true?
a. The sensitivity is 95%
b. The false positive rate is 5%
c. The specificity is 5 %
d. The false negative rate is 5%
5. An epidemiologist is tasked with studying the cause of a new disease outbreak. She decides to sample the 200
individuals who got sick and 200 individuals who were healthy. Then she administers a questionnaire to each of
the 400 individuals and asks them what they ate 7 days ago. Which type of study design is described?
a. Ecologic
b. Case control
c. Randomized clinical trial
d. Prospective cohort study
1
, Principles of Epidemiology
Final Exam
6. An example of a directly transmitted disease is one that is transmitted through:
a. A vehicle (e.g. water)
b. A parasite
c. Kissing
d. All of the above are examples of direct transmission
7. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Epidemiology is the study of diseases determinants in individuals.
b. Epidemiology is the study of disease determinants in populations.
c. Epidemiology can be used to guide disease prevention efforts
d. Epidemiology can be used to guide health policy efforts.
8. If you conduct a study and your results are comparable to similar studies conducted in different populations, you
likely have displayed:
a. Good internal validity
b. Poor internal validity
c. Good external validity
d. Poor external validity
9. You calculate the probability of finding a significant association when there truly is one. Which of the following
should have no direct influence on your calculation:
a. Sample size
b. Type I error
c. Type II error
d. Bias
10. Creatinine is a measure of kidney function. Creatinine levels > 10.0 in adults is indicative of impaired kidney
function. If we decide to use a cutpoint of 12.0, which of the following would increase?
a. Sensitivity
b. False positive rate
c. Specificity
d. None of the above
11. Which of the following drugs would be well captured in a claims database?
a. A drug used to treat seasonal allergies
b. A drug purchased over the counter
c. A drug that was launched on the market 2 days ago
d. None of the above
2
Final Exam
PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
FINAL EXAM – MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION NAME: ____
Please select the single best answer among for each of the following questions. Questions are worth 1 point each.
1. A researcher is interested in studying the rate of diabetes among patients with hypertension. Which part of the
epidemiologic definition is represented by the underlined text?
a. Study
b. Distribution
c. Specified populations
d. Application to control
2. The Anopheles mosquito is a species that picks up the parasite plasmodium. Although harmless to the
mosquito, plasmodium can cause malaria when infected into a human. In this example, the mosquito
represents which of the following components of the epidemiologic triad?
a. Vector
b. Host
c. Agent
d. Environment
3. A famous news outlet claims that the states with the highest average sodium consumption also have the highest
rates of hypertension. They then claim that based on this finding, high sodium diets are associated with
increased risk of hypertension. The main limitation of this claim is:
a. The disease is very rare
b. The disease is very common
c. Ecologic fallacy
d. The data was not blinded
4. Among patients without diabetes, the probability of having a glucose value < 120 is 95%. Which of the following
statements is true?
a. The sensitivity is 95%
b. The false positive rate is 5%
c. The specificity is 5 %
d. The false negative rate is 5%
5. An epidemiologist is tasked with studying the cause of a new disease outbreak. She decides to sample the 200
individuals who got sick and 200 individuals who were healthy. Then she administers a questionnaire to each of
the 400 individuals and asks them what they ate 7 days ago. Which type of study design is described?
a. Ecologic
b. Case control
c. Randomized clinical trial
d. Prospective cohort study
1
, Principles of Epidemiology
Final Exam
6. An example of a directly transmitted disease is one that is transmitted through:
a. A vehicle (e.g. water)
b. A parasite
c. Kissing
d. All of the above are examples of direct transmission
7. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Epidemiology is the study of diseases determinants in individuals.
b. Epidemiology is the study of disease determinants in populations.
c. Epidemiology can be used to guide disease prevention efforts
d. Epidemiology can be used to guide health policy efforts.
8. If you conduct a study and your results are comparable to similar studies conducted in different populations, you
likely have displayed:
a. Good internal validity
b. Poor internal validity
c. Good external validity
d. Poor external validity
9. You calculate the probability of finding a significant association when there truly is one. Which of the following
should have no direct influence on your calculation:
a. Sample size
b. Type I error
c. Type II error
d. Bias
10. Creatinine is a measure of kidney function. Creatinine levels > 10.0 in adults is indicative of impaired kidney
function. If we decide to use a cutpoint of 12.0, which of the following would increase?
a. Sensitivity
b. False positive rate
c. Specificity
d. None of the above
11. Which of the following drugs would be well captured in a claims database?
a. A drug used to treat seasonal allergies
b. A drug purchased over the counter
c. A drug that was launched on the market 2 days ago
d. None of the above
2
