HEALTH 255 EXAM #1 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) ALREADY
GRADED A+
Cohort Studies Ans✓✓✓-large group of healthy (non-diseased people)
-questioned for exposures
-observed for a long period of time
-determine link between exposure and disease
-observational
-relative risk: a comparison of 2 mortality/morbidity rates using a
calculation of the ratio of one to the other
-looks at causality
-disease=outcome
-can be expensive
-retention rate of participants
Case Control Studies Ans✓✓✓-starts with an already diseased group
-compared to a control group where healthy individuals are chosen to
match the diseased individuals
-all asked to answer same questions on exposures
-determines causes of disease
-observational
-smaller number of people
-uses odds ratio
-completed quickly
,-common with foodborne illness
-cheaper
-control selection may be difficult
Describe actions that governments have taken to ensure that people are
safer and healthier today than people were 100 years ago Ans✓✓✓-
provide pure water and efficient sewage disposal
-ensure safety of food supply
-ensure quality of medical services through creation of hospitals, nursing
homes and other institutions
What are the three core functions of health? How do these functions
compare with the functions of medical care? Ans✓✓✓1. Assessment:
you can collect, assemble, analyze and make information available to the
public
2. Policy Development: scientific knowledge to develop a treatment plan
3. Assurance: actual treatment of the patient
Give an example of a measure that would benefit public health but that
might be expensive to implement. Who would benefit? Who would pay
the cost? Ans✓✓✓Example: Restrictions on timber harvesting in the
pacific northwest.
Benefits: decreased deforestation, contribute to a stable climate and
Preserves jobs in the tourist industry.
Who would pay the cost: jobs in lumber industry, increased costs to the
consumer
,Give an example of a measure that would improve public health but that
might limit some people's freedom. Who would benefit? Whose freedom
would be limited? Ans✓✓✓Example: Outlawing smoking in public
places
Benefit: People in public environments because of no secondhand smoke
which would improve public health
Limits: Smokers might feel as though their freedom is limited
Why is it important for nongovernmental organizations to be involved in
public health activities? Ans✓✓✓important in lobbying, education and
research. Can focus on a specific disease instead of trying to solve a
bunch at once. Can provide funds for research.
Describe the activities of one of the philanthropic foundations identified
in chapter 3 Ans✓✓✓The Rockefeller Foundation focuses on world
population issues and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides
health care t the poor as well as on AIDS, alcoholism and drug abuse.
Why is epidemiologic surveillance important for public health?
Ans✓✓✓Reporting of notifiable diseases (TB, syphilis, measles) allows
health authorities to detect emerging epidemics
What has epidemiology contributed to people's understanding of Heart
Disease? Ans✓✓✓The Framingham Study. 5,209 participants between
the ages of 30 and 62 from Framingham, MA. Physical examinations
and lifestyle interviews. Since 1948, participants are re-evaluated every
, 2 years. In 1971, a second generation enrolled and in 2002, a third. They
identified major risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease. COHORT
STUDY.
What was the Reye's Syndrome Study and was it a case control study or
cohort study? Ans✓✓✓wanted to determine cause of the syndrome,
cases were children with Reye's syndrome and previous respiratory or
gastrointestinal illness or chicken pox. The controls were children
recently diagnosed with respiratory or gastrointestinal illness or chicken
pox. Found that aspirin contributes to the syndrome and the FDA
required warning labels for it.
What is the difference between incidence and prevalence? Why is
incidence more useful in identifying the cause of a disease? When is it
most useful to use prevalence? Ans✓✓✓Incidence: the rate of new cases
of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time.
Measures probability that a healthy person will develop a disease in their
lifetime.
Prevalence: Total number of cases existing in a defined population at a
specific time. Useful in identifying societal impact and planning for
future healthcare services.
Why are the who, when and where questions useful in determining the
causes of disease? Give examples. Ans✓✓✓Who: looks at
demographics (ex: chickenpox occurs more in children than adults)
When: looks at trends and disease frequency (tracking a disease
frequency like lung cancer which increased before the 90s and decreased
after)
DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) ALREADY
GRADED A+
Cohort Studies Ans✓✓✓-large group of healthy (non-diseased people)
-questioned for exposures
-observed for a long period of time
-determine link between exposure and disease
-observational
-relative risk: a comparison of 2 mortality/morbidity rates using a
calculation of the ratio of one to the other
-looks at causality
-disease=outcome
-can be expensive
-retention rate of participants
Case Control Studies Ans✓✓✓-starts with an already diseased group
-compared to a control group where healthy individuals are chosen to
match the diseased individuals
-all asked to answer same questions on exposures
-determines causes of disease
-observational
-smaller number of people
-uses odds ratio
-completed quickly
,-common with foodborne illness
-cheaper
-control selection may be difficult
Describe actions that governments have taken to ensure that people are
safer and healthier today than people were 100 years ago Ans✓✓✓-
provide pure water and efficient sewage disposal
-ensure safety of food supply
-ensure quality of medical services through creation of hospitals, nursing
homes and other institutions
What are the three core functions of health? How do these functions
compare with the functions of medical care? Ans✓✓✓1. Assessment:
you can collect, assemble, analyze and make information available to the
public
2. Policy Development: scientific knowledge to develop a treatment plan
3. Assurance: actual treatment of the patient
Give an example of a measure that would benefit public health but that
might be expensive to implement. Who would benefit? Who would pay
the cost? Ans✓✓✓Example: Restrictions on timber harvesting in the
pacific northwest.
Benefits: decreased deforestation, contribute to a stable climate and
Preserves jobs in the tourist industry.
Who would pay the cost: jobs in lumber industry, increased costs to the
consumer
,Give an example of a measure that would improve public health but that
might limit some people's freedom. Who would benefit? Whose freedom
would be limited? Ans✓✓✓Example: Outlawing smoking in public
places
Benefit: People in public environments because of no secondhand smoke
which would improve public health
Limits: Smokers might feel as though their freedom is limited
Why is it important for nongovernmental organizations to be involved in
public health activities? Ans✓✓✓important in lobbying, education and
research. Can focus on a specific disease instead of trying to solve a
bunch at once. Can provide funds for research.
Describe the activities of one of the philanthropic foundations identified
in chapter 3 Ans✓✓✓The Rockefeller Foundation focuses on world
population issues and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides
health care t the poor as well as on AIDS, alcoholism and drug abuse.
Why is epidemiologic surveillance important for public health?
Ans✓✓✓Reporting of notifiable diseases (TB, syphilis, measles) allows
health authorities to detect emerging epidemics
What has epidemiology contributed to people's understanding of Heart
Disease? Ans✓✓✓The Framingham Study. 5,209 participants between
the ages of 30 and 62 from Framingham, MA. Physical examinations
and lifestyle interviews. Since 1948, participants are re-evaluated every
, 2 years. In 1971, a second generation enrolled and in 2002, a third. They
identified major risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease. COHORT
STUDY.
What was the Reye's Syndrome Study and was it a case control study or
cohort study? Ans✓✓✓wanted to determine cause of the syndrome,
cases were children with Reye's syndrome and previous respiratory or
gastrointestinal illness or chicken pox. The controls were children
recently diagnosed with respiratory or gastrointestinal illness or chicken
pox. Found that aspirin contributes to the syndrome and the FDA
required warning labels for it.
What is the difference between incidence and prevalence? Why is
incidence more useful in identifying the cause of a disease? When is it
most useful to use prevalence? Ans✓✓✓Incidence: the rate of new cases
of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time.
Measures probability that a healthy person will develop a disease in their
lifetime.
Prevalence: Total number of cases existing in a defined population at a
specific time. Useful in identifying societal impact and planning for
future healthcare services.
Why are the who, when and where questions useful in determining the
causes of disease? Give examples. Ans✓✓✓Who: looks at
demographics (ex: chickenpox occurs more in children than adults)
When: looks at trends and disease frequency (tracking a disease
frequency like lung cancer which increased before the 90s and decreased
after)
