Epidemiology Practice Questions: Test Your Knowledge | LearnByTeaching.ai
These 40 epidemiology practice questions cover study design, measures of association, bias and confounding, and outbreak investigation. They emphasize the methodological reasoning that distinguishes rigorous epidemiological thinking from casual observation — skills essential for MPH coursework, clinical research, and public health practice.
40 questions total
Study Design
Covers cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, and randomized controlled trial designs, including their strengths and limitations.
In a cohort study, participants are classified at enrollment based on their:
A case-control study is particularly useful when:
The primary advantage of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) over an observational study is:
A cross-sectional study measures exposure and disease:
In a nested case-control study, cases and controls are drawn from:
Ecological studies analyze data at the level of:
A retrospective cohort study differs from a prospective cohort study in that:
External validity (generalizability) of a study refers to:
A Mendelian randomization study uses genetic variants as:
The intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis in an RCT includes:
Measures of Association and Disease Frequency
Covers incidence, prevalence, relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk, and number needed to treat.
Incidence rate measures:
Relative risk (risk ratio) is calculated as:
The odds ratio approximates the relative risk when:
Attributable risk (risk difference) measures:
Number needed to treat (NNT) is calculated as:
Population attributable risk percent (PAR%) answers which question?
A study reports a relative risk of 1.5 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.8-2.8. This means:
Sensitivity of a screening test is defined as:
Positive predictive value (PPV) of a test is most affected by:
The attack rate in an outbreak investigation is:
Bias and Confounding
Covers selection bias, information bias, confounding, effect modification, and strategies to control them.
Confounding occurs when:
Selection bias in a case-control study can occur when:
Recall bias is a concern primarily in:
Effect modification (interaction) differs from confounding in that:
Stratified analysis (Mantel-Haenszel method) is used to:
Lead-time bias in cancer screening occurs because:
Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are used in epidemiology to:
Collider bias (collider stratification bias) occurs when:
Immortal time bias occurs in pharmacoepidemiological studies when:
Healthy worker effect is an example of:
Outbreak Investigation and Applied Epidemiology
Covers outbreak investigation steps, epidemic curves, surveillance systems, and field epidemiology methods.
The first step in an outbreak investigation is to:
An epidemic curve (epi curve) is most useful for determining:
A case definition in outbreak investigation should be:
Active surveillance differs from passive surveillance in that:
During a foodborne outbreak investigation, a 2x2 table comparing illness rates among those who ate and did not eat a specific food is used to calculate:
The reproductive number (R0) represents:
Herd immunity threshold is calculated as:
John Snow's 1854 cholera investigation is a landmark in epidemiology because he:
In a pandemic, 'flattening the curve' aims to:
Syndromic surveillance monitors:
Scoring Guide
Total possible: 40
Study Recommendations
- Work through classic epidemiological studies (Framingham, Doll and Hill, John Snow) to see methods applied in real investigations
- Calculate relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk, and NNT by hand until the formulas are automatic
- Practice identifying biases and confounders in published papers — read the Methods section critically
- Draw DAGs for exposure-outcome relationships before choosing an analysis strategy
- Use 2x2 tables as your fundamental thinking tool for any association question
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