NR503 EPIDEMIOLOGY MIDTERM 2026
PRACTICE SOLVED QUESTIONS SET
◉ analytic study. Answer: consists of observational and
experimental. Observational include case control and cohort.
Experimental includes random control trial (typically for new drug
testing), field trial (conducted on those who have a high risk of
obtained a disease), and community trial (research is conducted on
an entire community or neighborhood). Test a hypothesis.
◉ Rapid Cycle Improvement (RCI). Answer: 1. "quality improvement
method that identifies, implements and measures changes made to
improve a process or a system." it implies that changes are made and
tested over periods of three or months or less, rather than the
standard eight to twelve months. It consists of fours stages:
Plan: Identify an opportunity to improve and plan a change or test of
how something works.
Do: Carry out the plan on a small number of patients. The test period
may be as short as one day for small PDSA cycles.
Study:Examine the results. Did you achieve your goals?
Act: Use your results to make a decision, incorporate changes into
your workflow, and establish future quality improvement plans
◉ Is screening a tertiary intervention? If yes, why, if not, what is it?.
Answer: No, it is secondary.
,◉ How does a provider determine the usefulness, appropriateness,
of a screening test?. Answer: Determining whether a screening test
is appropriate requires the APRN to address several aspects of the
disease of interest. The target population needs to be identifiable.
There should be enough people to make the study cost effective. The
preclinical period should be proficient to allow treatment before
symptoms appear so that early diagnosis and treatment make a
difference in terms of outcomes.
◉ Can you explain what "descriptive epidemiology" means? What is
the purpose? How is it used?. Answer: It covers time place and
person.
First, by looking at the data carefully, the epidemiologist becomes
very familiar with the data. He or she can see what the data can or
cannot reveal based on the variables available, its limitations (for
example, the number of records with missing information for each
important variable), and its eccentricities (for example, all cases
range in age from 2 months to 6 years, plus one 17-year-old.).
Second, the epidemiologist learns the extent and pattern of the
public health problem being investigated — which months, which
neighborhoods, and which groups of people have the most and least
cases.
Third, the epidemiologist creates a detailed description of the health
of a population that can be easily communicated with tables, graphs,
and maps.
, Fourth, the epidemiologist can identify areas or groups within the
population that have high rates of disease. This information in turn
provides important clues to the causes of the disease, and these
clues can be turned into testable hypotheses.
◉ How are causation and descriptive epidemiology related, how do
they work together to aid evidence-based care?. Answer: Causation-
helps look at the cause of the issue or disease process. Descriptive
epidemiology focuses on the person, place, and time. An example of
how they are intertwined might be a person who was sick from E.
Coli. The physician might look at what the individual ate to
determine what made them sick. For instance, they may have
decided to eat from the salad bar at a local restaurant.
◉ 4 types of casual relationships. Answer: 1. Necessary and
sufficient (rare)- a factor is both necessary (disease will appear only
if the factor is present) and sufficient (exposure always cause
disease).
2. Necessary but not sufficient: more than one factor is required. Tb
is a factor, but even if present not always the person get sick.
3. Sufficient but not necessary - specific fx can cause disease, but
other fx can cause the same disease. Ex. anemia
4. Neither sufficient nor necessary - specific fx can be combined with
other fx to produce disease. but disease can be produced without the
factor.
PRACTICE SOLVED QUESTIONS SET
◉ analytic study. Answer: consists of observational and
experimental. Observational include case control and cohort.
Experimental includes random control trial (typically for new drug
testing), field trial (conducted on those who have a high risk of
obtained a disease), and community trial (research is conducted on
an entire community or neighborhood). Test a hypothesis.
◉ Rapid Cycle Improvement (RCI). Answer: 1. "quality improvement
method that identifies, implements and measures changes made to
improve a process or a system." it implies that changes are made and
tested over periods of three or months or less, rather than the
standard eight to twelve months. It consists of fours stages:
Plan: Identify an opportunity to improve and plan a change or test of
how something works.
Do: Carry out the plan on a small number of patients. The test period
may be as short as one day for small PDSA cycles.
Study:Examine the results. Did you achieve your goals?
Act: Use your results to make a decision, incorporate changes into
your workflow, and establish future quality improvement plans
◉ Is screening a tertiary intervention? If yes, why, if not, what is it?.
Answer: No, it is secondary.
,◉ How does a provider determine the usefulness, appropriateness,
of a screening test?. Answer: Determining whether a screening test
is appropriate requires the APRN to address several aspects of the
disease of interest. The target population needs to be identifiable.
There should be enough people to make the study cost effective. The
preclinical period should be proficient to allow treatment before
symptoms appear so that early diagnosis and treatment make a
difference in terms of outcomes.
◉ Can you explain what "descriptive epidemiology" means? What is
the purpose? How is it used?. Answer: It covers time place and
person.
First, by looking at the data carefully, the epidemiologist becomes
very familiar with the data. He or she can see what the data can or
cannot reveal based on the variables available, its limitations (for
example, the number of records with missing information for each
important variable), and its eccentricities (for example, all cases
range in age from 2 months to 6 years, plus one 17-year-old.).
Second, the epidemiologist learns the extent and pattern of the
public health problem being investigated — which months, which
neighborhoods, and which groups of people have the most and least
cases.
Third, the epidemiologist creates a detailed description of the health
of a population that can be easily communicated with tables, graphs,
and maps.
, Fourth, the epidemiologist can identify areas or groups within the
population that have high rates of disease. This information in turn
provides important clues to the causes of the disease, and these
clues can be turned into testable hypotheses.
◉ How are causation and descriptive epidemiology related, how do
they work together to aid evidence-based care?. Answer: Causation-
helps look at the cause of the issue or disease process. Descriptive
epidemiology focuses on the person, place, and time. An example of
how they are intertwined might be a person who was sick from E.
Coli. The physician might look at what the individual ate to
determine what made them sick. For instance, they may have
decided to eat from the salad bar at a local restaurant.
◉ 4 types of casual relationships. Answer: 1. Necessary and
sufficient (rare)- a factor is both necessary (disease will appear only
if the factor is present) and sufficient (exposure always cause
disease).
2. Necessary but not sufficient: more than one factor is required. Tb
is a factor, but even if present not always the person get sick.
3. Sufficient but not necessary - specific fx can cause disease, but
other fx can cause the same disease. Ex. anemia
4. Neither sufficient nor necessary - specific fx can be combined with
other fx to produce disease. but disease can be produced without the
factor.
