EPIDEMIOLOGY EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Population-based approach/public health approach: - ANSWER--Applied to whole
population, dietary modification, must be inexpensive and non-invasive
High-risk approach (clinically based): - ANSWER--Expensive or invasive (ie. colonscopy
for those with family history, cholesterol screening for children from high risk families)
Hippocrates - ANSWER-400 BC - Found that disease is associated with physical
environment
Francis Bacon - ANSWER-Inductive logic, Law of Mortality --> law of epidemics.
Royal Society of London - ANSWER-1662 - John Graunt published a comparative study
of mortality and morbidity in human populations. Referred to as the Columbus of
Statistics. Quantified patterns of disease.
James Lind - ANSWER-1747 - etiology and treatment of scurvy, use of comparison
group.
-Noticed high morbidity rate among sailors
-Noticed diet among sailors at sea hard on digestion
-Conducted experimental trial using comparison group
Edward Jenner - ANSWER-1768 - use of observational data
Pierre Charles-Alexandre Louis - ANSWER-comparison of groups of individuals,
emphasized use of statistical methods in medicine
William Farr - ANSWER-Mortality surveillance, use of vital statistics,
-In charge of medical statistics in the Office of the Registrar General for England (1839)
-Set up a system for routine compilation of the numbers and causes of deaths
-Addressed many issues relevant to modern epidemiology including case definition,
using comparison populations, and addressing confounding factors such as age.
John Snow - ANSWER-- "Father of Epidemiology"
-Investigated cholera 1849-1854
-Lambeth company - water above London
-Southward and Vauzhall Company - water below London
-1854 epidemic of cholera in London
-Tested hypothesis
-Charted frequency and distribution of disease
-Ascertained cause/determinant
-First to draw all three components of epidemiology together
, oDistribution, determinants, population
-Important: it is not always necessary to know pathogenic mechanism to prevent
disease
Bacteriological Revolution - ANSWER--"Point-contact spread" of infection
Salk Vaccine - ANSWER-- 1954 - largest formal human experiment
1964 - ANSWER-- US Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health
1970's - ANSWER-- evolution of microcomputer technologies allowed new multivariate
statistical methods to develop
1990s - ANSWER-- application of techniques in molecular biology to large populations
Three Stages of Modern Epidemiology - ANSWER-Sanitary statistics, Infectious
disease epidemiology, Chronic disease epidemiology
Sanitary statistics - ANSWER-poisoning by soil, air, water
Infectious disease epidemiology - ANSWER-germ theory (single agent, specific
disease)
Chronic disease epidemiology - ANSWER-since WWII, "black box" approach, risk
factors
Successes in Epidemiology and Public Health - ANSWER-Cholera, smallpox,
Legionnaire's Disease, Infant Mortality/life expectancy, Toxic Shock Syndrome,
smoking/tobacco (lung cancer), CHD - Coronary Heart Disease
vector - ANSWER-any insect or living carrier that transports infectious agent from
infected individual or its waste to a susceptible individual or its food.
-Ex. Ticks carry rickettsiae, which cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Vehicle - ANSWER-contaminated inanimate object that transmits the disease (ex.
doorknob)
Teenage smoking example - ANSWER-Host = teenagers; agent = cigarettes;
vector/vehicle = advertising; environment = social setting
many stages of disease - ANSWER--Stage of susceptibility
-Subclinical disease (before we recognize symptoms)
-Clinical disease (mind, moderate or severe?)
clinical infection - ANSWER-presence of signs and symptoms
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Population-based approach/public health approach: - ANSWER--Applied to whole
population, dietary modification, must be inexpensive and non-invasive
High-risk approach (clinically based): - ANSWER--Expensive or invasive (ie. colonscopy
for those with family history, cholesterol screening for children from high risk families)
Hippocrates - ANSWER-400 BC - Found that disease is associated with physical
environment
Francis Bacon - ANSWER-Inductive logic, Law of Mortality --> law of epidemics.
Royal Society of London - ANSWER-1662 - John Graunt published a comparative study
of mortality and morbidity in human populations. Referred to as the Columbus of
Statistics. Quantified patterns of disease.
James Lind - ANSWER-1747 - etiology and treatment of scurvy, use of comparison
group.
-Noticed high morbidity rate among sailors
-Noticed diet among sailors at sea hard on digestion
-Conducted experimental trial using comparison group
Edward Jenner - ANSWER-1768 - use of observational data
Pierre Charles-Alexandre Louis - ANSWER-comparison of groups of individuals,
emphasized use of statistical methods in medicine
William Farr - ANSWER-Mortality surveillance, use of vital statistics,
-In charge of medical statistics in the Office of the Registrar General for England (1839)
-Set up a system for routine compilation of the numbers and causes of deaths
-Addressed many issues relevant to modern epidemiology including case definition,
using comparison populations, and addressing confounding factors such as age.
John Snow - ANSWER-- "Father of Epidemiology"
-Investigated cholera 1849-1854
-Lambeth company - water above London
-Southward and Vauzhall Company - water below London
-1854 epidemic of cholera in London
-Tested hypothesis
-Charted frequency and distribution of disease
-Ascertained cause/determinant
-First to draw all three components of epidemiology together
, oDistribution, determinants, population
-Important: it is not always necessary to know pathogenic mechanism to prevent
disease
Bacteriological Revolution - ANSWER--"Point-contact spread" of infection
Salk Vaccine - ANSWER-- 1954 - largest formal human experiment
1964 - ANSWER-- US Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health
1970's - ANSWER-- evolution of microcomputer technologies allowed new multivariate
statistical methods to develop
1990s - ANSWER-- application of techniques in molecular biology to large populations
Three Stages of Modern Epidemiology - ANSWER-Sanitary statistics, Infectious
disease epidemiology, Chronic disease epidemiology
Sanitary statistics - ANSWER-poisoning by soil, air, water
Infectious disease epidemiology - ANSWER-germ theory (single agent, specific
disease)
Chronic disease epidemiology - ANSWER-since WWII, "black box" approach, risk
factors
Successes in Epidemiology and Public Health - ANSWER-Cholera, smallpox,
Legionnaire's Disease, Infant Mortality/life expectancy, Toxic Shock Syndrome,
smoking/tobacco (lung cancer), CHD - Coronary Heart Disease
vector - ANSWER-any insect or living carrier that transports infectious agent from
infected individual or its waste to a susceptible individual or its food.
-Ex. Ticks carry rickettsiae, which cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Vehicle - ANSWER-contaminated inanimate object that transmits the disease (ex.
doorknob)
Teenage smoking example - ANSWER-Host = teenagers; agent = cigarettes;
vector/vehicle = advertising; environment = social setting
many stages of disease - ANSWER--Stage of susceptibility
-Subclinical disease (before we recognize symptoms)
-Clinical disease (mind, moderate or severe?)
clinical infection - ANSWER-presence of signs and symptoms
