Epidemiology PHC 6001: Exam 1 Review Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2025/2026
Chapter 1 - Answers PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Disease Frequency - Answers count cases, records. It quantifies how often a disease arises in a
population. Its calculation involves establishing the disease definition, counting cases (numerator), and
determining the size of the underlying population (denominator)
Disease Distribution - Answers who, what, when, where of the disease. It refers to the pattern of disease
according to the characteristics of person (who is getting the disease?), place (where it occurs), and time
(how is it changing over time?)
A determinant is... - Answers a characteristic that influences whether or not the disease occurs.
Determinants of disease can be influenced by the individual, social surroundings, and environment.
How do we identify the cause of a disease? - Answers -Is there an association between EXPOSURE to a
risk factor or a personal characteristic and DEVELOPMENT of disease?
-Is the association causal?
- Descriptive data is important to identifying the causes of disease.
Germ Theory of disease - Answers (1850-1900) Specific organisms cause specific diseases. Resulted from
advances in science that allowed viruses and bacteria to be visualized, isolated, and used to cause
disease in healthy animals.
These steps were known as Koch Postulates.
One of the 10 great achievements of public health in the 20th century was: - Answers Inclusion of seat
belts in all cars
Epidemiologists are interested in learning about: - Answers -The frequency and distribution of diseases
-The causes of disease and ways to control or cure them and
-The causal relationships between diseases
Match the epidemiologist with the work/discovery he is historically known for: - Answers
Semmelweis - Answers Hand hygiene and prevention of Puerperal Fever
Lind - Answers Experimental study of diet and scurvy. One of the earliest experimental studies on
treatment of scurvy among sailors.. Consumption of oranges and lemons was most effective for scurvy
tx.
Graunt - Answers Published an analysis of the Bills of Mortality- patterns of mortality and discovered
regularity of deaths and births.
, Farr - Answers Combined data on births, marriages, and deaths with census data on the population size.
Koch - Answers Developed postulates to explain the causes of cholera and TB
Snow - Answers Believed that Cholera was caused by a "germ" spread through contaminated water.
Shoe leather EPIDEMIOLOGY.
This historic disease theory said that disease was a result of contact with decaying animal or vegetable
matter: - Answers Zyme Theory
Public Health - Answers PH is a multidisciplinary field whose goal is to promote the health of populations
through organized community efforts.
Epidemiology - Answers The study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human
pop's and the application of this study to control health problems. Disease refers to a broad array of
health-related states and events including diseases, injuries, disabilities, and death.
Chapter 2 - Answers MEASURES OF DISEASE FREQUENCY AND POPULATIONS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY
Population - Answers A population is a group of people with a common characterisitic
What are the main objective of Epidemiology? - Answers Is to study the natural course of disease, to
determine the extent of disease in a population, to identify patterns and trends in disease occurrence, to
identify the causes of disease, and to evaluate the effectiveness of measures that prevent and treat
disease.
Fixed population - Answers membership is permanent and defined by an event. Ex. Atomic Bomb
survivors
Dynamic popultion - Answers aka open pop/transient member and is defined by being in or out of a
"state". Ex. residents of Miami, FL. They can move and come back.
The Ratio, Proportion, and Rate are calculations used to help describe disease frequency. - Answers
Ratio- division of 2 unrelated #'s (i.e. sex ratio in FL--ratio of males to females)
Proportion- division of 2 related #'s; numerator is subset of denominator. Will always be expressed
between 0 and 1 or 0% to 100% (i.e. proportion of the Florida population who are black in 2010)
Rate- division of 2 related #'s; TIME is always in the denominator (i.e. cases / population / one year --
500 cases/100,000 population/ one year)
*MEASURING NEW CASES OF DISEASE - Answers
Disease Frequency - Answers # of cases / population = per year
Measuring disease frequency:
Chapter 1 - Answers PUBLIC HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Disease Frequency - Answers count cases, records. It quantifies how often a disease arises in a
population. Its calculation involves establishing the disease definition, counting cases (numerator), and
determining the size of the underlying population (denominator)
Disease Distribution - Answers who, what, when, where of the disease. It refers to the pattern of disease
according to the characteristics of person (who is getting the disease?), place (where it occurs), and time
(how is it changing over time?)
A determinant is... - Answers a characteristic that influences whether or not the disease occurs.
Determinants of disease can be influenced by the individual, social surroundings, and environment.
How do we identify the cause of a disease? - Answers -Is there an association between EXPOSURE to a
risk factor or a personal characteristic and DEVELOPMENT of disease?
-Is the association causal?
- Descriptive data is important to identifying the causes of disease.
Germ Theory of disease - Answers (1850-1900) Specific organisms cause specific diseases. Resulted from
advances in science that allowed viruses and bacteria to be visualized, isolated, and used to cause
disease in healthy animals.
These steps were known as Koch Postulates.
One of the 10 great achievements of public health in the 20th century was: - Answers Inclusion of seat
belts in all cars
Epidemiologists are interested in learning about: - Answers -The frequency and distribution of diseases
-The causes of disease and ways to control or cure them and
-The causal relationships between diseases
Match the epidemiologist with the work/discovery he is historically known for: - Answers
Semmelweis - Answers Hand hygiene and prevention of Puerperal Fever
Lind - Answers Experimental study of diet and scurvy. One of the earliest experimental studies on
treatment of scurvy among sailors.. Consumption of oranges and lemons was most effective for scurvy
tx.
Graunt - Answers Published an analysis of the Bills of Mortality- patterns of mortality and discovered
regularity of deaths and births.
, Farr - Answers Combined data on births, marriages, and deaths with census data on the population size.
Koch - Answers Developed postulates to explain the causes of cholera and TB
Snow - Answers Believed that Cholera was caused by a "germ" spread through contaminated water.
Shoe leather EPIDEMIOLOGY.
This historic disease theory said that disease was a result of contact with decaying animal or vegetable
matter: - Answers Zyme Theory
Public Health - Answers PH is a multidisciplinary field whose goal is to promote the health of populations
through organized community efforts.
Epidemiology - Answers The study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human
pop's and the application of this study to control health problems. Disease refers to a broad array of
health-related states and events including diseases, injuries, disabilities, and death.
Chapter 2 - Answers MEASURES OF DISEASE FREQUENCY AND POPULATIONS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY
Population - Answers A population is a group of people with a common characterisitic
What are the main objective of Epidemiology? - Answers Is to study the natural course of disease, to
determine the extent of disease in a population, to identify patterns and trends in disease occurrence, to
identify the causes of disease, and to evaluate the effectiveness of measures that prevent and treat
disease.
Fixed population - Answers membership is permanent and defined by an event. Ex. Atomic Bomb
survivors
Dynamic popultion - Answers aka open pop/transient member and is defined by being in or out of a
"state". Ex. residents of Miami, FL. They can move and come back.
The Ratio, Proportion, and Rate are calculations used to help describe disease frequency. - Answers
Ratio- division of 2 unrelated #'s (i.e. sex ratio in FL--ratio of males to females)
Proportion- division of 2 related #'s; numerator is subset of denominator. Will always be expressed
between 0 and 1 or 0% to 100% (i.e. proportion of the Florida population who are black in 2010)
Rate- division of 2 related #'s; TIME is always in the denominator (i.e. cases / population / one year --
500 cases/100,000 population/ one year)
*MEASURING NEW CASES OF DISEASE - Answers
Disease Frequency - Answers # of cases / population = per year
Measuring disease frequency:
