Unit 2 Assessment Questions Concepts of Epidemiology
QUESTION 1

1. There are three main elements or characteristics of descriptive epidemiology that are used to describe almost any disease or health condition: person, place, and time. Explain the significance of each element and how they are used to study the distribution and determinants of disease frequency. Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

QUESTION 2
1. Explain the similarities and differences between risk difference and population risk difference. Provide one specific example of each that you could use in a real-world scenario. Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

QUESTION 3

1. Consider the following hypothetical scenario: The Idaho Kidney Center analyzed deaths among patients with kidney disease who were seen at their program from 1/1/2006 through 12/31/2011. A total of 2,965 deaths occurred during the observation period among the 22,735 study population. The table below gives the race and gender of the decedents and the total population.

Characteristic

Decedents (N = 2,965)

Total Study Population (N = 22,735)

Gender Male Female

1,779 1,186

15,748 6,987

Race White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic Other/Unknown

1,951 523 251 240

12,912 8,066 1,230 527

2. Using the scenario above, calculate and explain how to find the prevalence of Hispanics in the total study population. Then, calculate and explain how to find the ratio of males to females in the total study population. What is the proportion of Black, non-Hispanic decedents in this program? In addition, what is the proportion of White, non-Hispanic decedents in this study? Explain why this information is necessary for an epidemiological study. Your response must be at least 500 words in length.