CPH Exam Study Guide UPDATED
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Epidemiology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of distribution and determinants of health-
related states and events in specified populations and the application of this study to control
health problems
Role for epidemiology in public health - CORRECT ANSWER - Monitor health of
population, Respond to emerging public health problems, Promote research and use of evidence-
based interventions, Evaluate effectiveness of interventions, Findings provide foundations for
public health policy, Set funding priorities for research and intervention programs
Distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - who gets the disease, where people are located, and
how these aspects change over time
Disease frequency - CORRECT ANSWER - quantification of MMD in the populations
(how often)
Disease distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - analysis of patterns (who, where, is it
changing)
Population - CORRECT ANSWER - group of people with a common characteristic in
terms of person, place, and time
Fixed population - CORRECT ANSWER - membership based on an event which is
permanent
Transient population - CORRECT ANSWER - membership based on a condition that can
change
Mortality - CORRECT ANSWER - death
,Crude MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from all causes
Age specific MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from all causes in a specific age
group
Cause specific MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from a specific cause
Infant MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths of infants less than 1 year of age
Proportionate mortality ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths due to a specific disease
within a population divided by the total number of deaths in the population
Morbidity - CORRECT ANSWER - disease
Prevalence - CORRECT ANSWER - # of existing cases of disease / number in total
population at a point in time
Incidence - CORRECT ANSWER - # of new cases of disease that develop in a population
at risk during a specified time period
Cumulative incidence - CORRECT ANSWER - estimates the probability or risk that a
person will develop disease during a specified time
Incidence rate - CORRECT ANSWER - # of new cases / person time of observation
Relationship between incidence and prevalence - CORRECT ANSWER - Incidence
decreases but people living longer with the disease = increased prevalence; Incidence increases
but duration is short = decreased prevalence; Incidence decreases and duration is short =
decreased prevalence
,Disability - CORRECT ANSWER - umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations,
and participation restrictions
Primary measures of association - CORRECT ANSWER - ratio, proportion, rate, relative
risk
Ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - division of one number by another
Proportion - CORRECT ANSWER - numerator is a subset of the denominator (often a %)
Rate - CORRECT ANSWER - time is an intrinsic part of denominator
Relative risk - CORRECT ANSWER - rate in exposed / rate in unexposed (a/(a+b) / c /
(c+d)); 1 - no association between exposure and disease; 2 - two times the risk of disease in
exposed compared to unexposed
Odds ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - represents the odds that an outcome will occur given
a particular exposure, compared to the odds of the outcome occurring in the absence of that
exposure ( ad / bc); Most commonly used in case-control studies but can also be used in cross-
sectional and cohort studies as well; In order for odds ratio to approximate the relative risk, the
disease must be rare
Epidemic - CORRECT ANSWER - outbreak or occurrence of a DDD from a single
source, in a group, population, community or geographic area, in excess of the usual expectancy
Endemic - CORRECT ANSWER - ongoing, usual level of, or constant presence of a DDD
within a given population or geographic area
Pandemic - CORRECT ANSWER - an epidemic that is widespread across a country,
continent, or a large populace
, Study Designs - CORRECT ANSWER - Ecological, cross-sectional, cohort, case-control,
randomized controlled trial
Ecological study - CORRECT ANSWER - Unit of analysis - population or groups;
Exposure status - based on the population; Time can vary; Ecological fallacy - making
assumptions about the individual based on finding at the level of the population
Cross-sectional - CORRECT ANSWER - Snap-shot in time; Unit of analysis - individual;
Population selected without regard to exposure or disease status; Measure - prevalence of disease
(odds ratio); Can't determine cause and effect
Case-control - CORRECT ANSWER - Disease is rare; Disease has a long induction or
latent period; little is known about the disease; Selection of cases and controls
Cohort - CORRECT ANSWER - Study in which two or more groups of people that are
free of disease and that differ according to extent of exposure are compared with respect to
disease incidence; Exposure is not allocated
Randomized controlled trials - CORRECT ANSWER - Gold standard; Relative risk
Internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER - how well the study was conducted (blinding,
adherence to protocols)
Threats to internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER - Bias - systematic error (selection
bias, misclassification bias); Chance - random variation (reduced with large sample size);
Confounding - distortion in the measure of association between exposure and effect (mixing of
effects)
External validity - CORRECT ANSWER - assesses how generalizable the results are and
if they can be replicated
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Epidemiology - CORRECT ANSWER - study of distribution and determinants of health-
related states and events in specified populations and the application of this study to control
health problems
Role for epidemiology in public health - CORRECT ANSWER - Monitor health of
population, Respond to emerging public health problems, Promote research and use of evidence-
based interventions, Evaluate effectiveness of interventions, Findings provide foundations for
public health policy, Set funding priorities for research and intervention programs
Distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - who gets the disease, where people are located, and
how these aspects change over time
Disease frequency - CORRECT ANSWER - quantification of MMD in the populations
(how often)
Disease distribution - CORRECT ANSWER - analysis of patterns (who, where, is it
changing)
Population - CORRECT ANSWER - group of people with a common characteristic in
terms of person, place, and time
Fixed population - CORRECT ANSWER - membership based on an event which is
permanent
Transient population - CORRECT ANSWER - membership based on a condition that can
change
Mortality - CORRECT ANSWER - death
,Crude MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from all causes
Age specific MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from all causes in a specific age
group
Cause specific MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths from a specific cause
Infant MR - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths of infants less than 1 year of age
Proportionate mortality ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - # of deaths due to a specific disease
within a population divided by the total number of deaths in the population
Morbidity - CORRECT ANSWER - disease
Prevalence - CORRECT ANSWER - # of existing cases of disease / number in total
population at a point in time
Incidence - CORRECT ANSWER - # of new cases of disease that develop in a population
at risk during a specified time period
Cumulative incidence - CORRECT ANSWER - estimates the probability or risk that a
person will develop disease during a specified time
Incidence rate - CORRECT ANSWER - # of new cases / person time of observation
Relationship between incidence and prevalence - CORRECT ANSWER - Incidence
decreases but people living longer with the disease = increased prevalence; Incidence increases
but duration is short = decreased prevalence; Incidence decreases and duration is short =
decreased prevalence
,Disability - CORRECT ANSWER - umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations,
and participation restrictions
Primary measures of association - CORRECT ANSWER - ratio, proportion, rate, relative
risk
Ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - division of one number by another
Proportion - CORRECT ANSWER - numerator is a subset of the denominator (often a %)
Rate - CORRECT ANSWER - time is an intrinsic part of denominator
Relative risk - CORRECT ANSWER - rate in exposed / rate in unexposed (a/(a+b) / c /
(c+d)); 1 - no association between exposure and disease; 2 - two times the risk of disease in
exposed compared to unexposed
Odds ratio - CORRECT ANSWER - represents the odds that an outcome will occur given
a particular exposure, compared to the odds of the outcome occurring in the absence of that
exposure ( ad / bc); Most commonly used in case-control studies but can also be used in cross-
sectional and cohort studies as well; In order for odds ratio to approximate the relative risk, the
disease must be rare
Epidemic - CORRECT ANSWER - outbreak or occurrence of a DDD from a single
source, in a group, population, community or geographic area, in excess of the usual expectancy
Endemic - CORRECT ANSWER - ongoing, usual level of, or constant presence of a DDD
within a given population or geographic area
Pandemic - CORRECT ANSWER - an epidemic that is widespread across a country,
continent, or a large populace
, Study Designs - CORRECT ANSWER - Ecological, cross-sectional, cohort, case-control,
randomized controlled trial
Ecological study - CORRECT ANSWER - Unit of analysis - population or groups;
Exposure status - based on the population; Time can vary; Ecological fallacy - making
assumptions about the individual based on finding at the level of the population
Cross-sectional - CORRECT ANSWER - Snap-shot in time; Unit of analysis - individual;
Population selected without regard to exposure or disease status; Measure - prevalence of disease
(odds ratio); Can't determine cause and effect
Case-control - CORRECT ANSWER - Disease is rare; Disease has a long induction or
latent period; little is known about the disease; Selection of cases and controls
Cohort - CORRECT ANSWER - Study in which two or more groups of people that are
free of disease and that differ according to extent of exposure are compared with respect to
disease incidence; Exposure is not allocated
Randomized controlled trials - CORRECT ANSWER - Gold standard; Relative risk
Internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER - how well the study was conducted (blinding,
adherence to protocols)
Threats to internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER - Bias - systematic error (selection
bias, misclassification bias); Chance - random variation (reduced with large sample size);
Confounding - distortion in the measure of association between exposure and effect (mixing of
effects)
External validity - CORRECT ANSWER - assesses how generalizable the results are and
if they can be replicated
