Regis NU-713 Midterm Exam
A colon cancer screening study is being conducted in Burkeshire, England. Individuals 50 to 75 years old
will be screened with the Hemoccult test. In this test, a stool sample is tested for the presence of blood.
The Hemoccult test has a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 75%. If Burkeshire has a prevalence of
12/1,000 for colon cancer, what is the computed positive predictive value of the Hemoccult test? - ✔✔
correct answer 3.3%
Primary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Immunization, reducing exposure to a risk factor
Secondary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Screening for breast cancer
Tertiary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Rehabilitation after a surgical procedure
A physical examination was used to screen for breast cancer in 2,500 women with biopsy-proven
adenocarcinoma of the breast and in 5,000 age- and race-matched control women. Results of the
physical examination were positive, meaning that a mass was palpated in 1,800 cases and in 800 control
women, all of whom showed no evidence of cancer at biopsy. The sensitivity of the physical examination
was ________ percent. - ✔✔ correct answer 72%
A program manager from an international health funding agency wants to identify regions that would
benefit from an intervention to reduce premature disability. The program manager asks you to develop a
proposal using an index that would assist in making this decision. Which of the following would best
serve this purpose to provide the needed information? - ✔✔ correct answer Disability-adjusted life-years
A research study reported a weighted Kappa statistic of Kappa = 0.86 between raters (Kappa = 0.86). The
reported Kappa statistic indicates ________. - ✔✔ correct answer
Herd Immunity - ✔✔ correct answer The resistance of a group of people to an attack by a disease to
which a large proportion of members of the group are immune
Incubation period - ✔✔ correct answer The interval from receipt of infection to the time of onset of
clinical illness
Preclinical disease - ✔✔ correct answer Disease that is not yet clinically apparent but will progress to
clinical disease
, Regis NU-713 Midterm Exam
Persistent (chronic) disease - ✔✔ correct answer Disease that persists for years and sometimes for one's
lifetime
A screening test is used in the same way in two similar populations, but the proportion of false-positive
results among those who test positive in population A is lower than that among those who test positive
in population B. The most likely explanation for this finding is ________. - ✔✔ correct answer the
prevalence of disease is higher in population A
Age-adjusted death rates are used to: - ✔✔ correct answer Eliminate the effects of differences in the age
distributions of populations in comparing death rates
At an initial examination in Plymouth, Massachusetts, migraine headache was found in 5 of 1,000 men
aged 30 to 35 years and in 10 of 1,000 women aged 30 to 35 years. The inference that women have a
two times greater risk of developing migraine headache then man in this age group is ________. - ✔✔
correct answer incorrect, because of failure to distinguish between incidence and prevalence
Based on this table, it was concluded that workers in Industry B are at higher risk of death from
respiratory system cancer than workers in Industry A. (Assume that the age distributions of the workers
in the two industries are nearly identical.) Which of the following statements is true? - ✔✔ correct
answer The conclusion reached may be incorrect because proportionate mortality was used when cause-
specific mortality rates were needed.
Validity - ✔✔ correct answer The ability of a screening test to distinguish who has a disease and who
does not
Sensitivity - ✔✔ correct answer The proportion of people with the disease who have a positive test
Specificity - ✔✔ correct answer the proportion of non-diseased people who are correctly identified as
negative by a screening test
Positive predictive value - ✔✔ correct answer The proportion of patients who test positive who actually
have the disease
A colon cancer screening study is being conducted in Burkeshire, England. Individuals 50 to 75 years old
will be screened with the Hemoccult test. In this test, a stool sample is tested for the presence of blood.
The Hemoccult test has a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 75%. If Burkeshire has a prevalence of
12/1,000 for colon cancer, what is the computed positive predictive value of the Hemoccult test? - ✔✔
correct answer 3.3%
Primary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Immunization, reducing exposure to a risk factor
Secondary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Screening for breast cancer
Tertiary prevention - ✔✔ correct answer Rehabilitation after a surgical procedure
A physical examination was used to screen for breast cancer in 2,500 women with biopsy-proven
adenocarcinoma of the breast and in 5,000 age- and race-matched control women. Results of the
physical examination were positive, meaning that a mass was palpated in 1,800 cases and in 800 control
women, all of whom showed no evidence of cancer at biopsy. The sensitivity of the physical examination
was ________ percent. - ✔✔ correct answer 72%
A program manager from an international health funding agency wants to identify regions that would
benefit from an intervention to reduce premature disability. The program manager asks you to develop a
proposal using an index that would assist in making this decision. Which of the following would best
serve this purpose to provide the needed information? - ✔✔ correct answer Disability-adjusted life-years
A research study reported a weighted Kappa statistic of Kappa = 0.86 between raters (Kappa = 0.86). The
reported Kappa statistic indicates ________. - ✔✔ correct answer
Herd Immunity - ✔✔ correct answer The resistance of a group of people to an attack by a disease to
which a large proportion of members of the group are immune
Incubation period - ✔✔ correct answer The interval from receipt of infection to the time of onset of
clinical illness
Preclinical disease - ✔✔ correct answer Disease that is not yet clinically apparent but will progress to
clinical disease
, Regis NU-713 Midterm Exam
Persistent (chronic) disease - ✔✔ correct answer Disease that persists for years and sometimes for one's
lifetime
A screening test is used in the same way in two similar populations, but the proportion of false-positive
results among those who test positive in population A is lower than that among those who test positive
in population B. The most likely explanation for this finding is ________. - ✔✔ correct answer the
prevalence of disease is higher in population A
Age-adjusted death rates are used to: - ✔✔ correct answer Eliminate the effects of differences in the age
distributions of populations in comparing death rates
At an initial examination in Plymouth, Massachusetts, migraine headache was found in 5 of 1,000 men
aged 30 to 35 years and in 10 of 1,000 women aged 30 to 35 years. The inference that women have a
two times greater risk of developing migraine headache then man in this age group is ________. - ✔✔
correct answer incorrect, because of failure to distinguish between incidence and prevalence
Based on this table, it was concluded that workers in Industry B are at higher risk of death from
respiratory system cancer than workers in Industry A. (Assume that the age distributions of the workers
in the two industries are nearly identical.) Which of the following statements is true? - ✔✔ correct
answer The conclusion reached may be incorrect because proportionate mortality was used when cause-
specific mortality rates were needed.
Validity - ✔✔ correct answer The ability of a screening test to distinguish who has a disease and who
does not
Sensitivity - ✔✔ correct answer The proportion of people with the disease who have a positive test
Specificity - ✔✔ correct answer the proportion of non-diseased people who are correctly identified as
negative by a screening test
Positive predictive value - ✔✔ correct answer The proportion of patients who test positive who actually
have the disease
