Epidemiology MCQs for nursing

1. : What does the term “epidemiology” primarily focus on?
(A) The study of infectious diseases only
(B) The study of disease distribution and determinants in populations
(C) The treatment of individual patients
(D) The administration of vaccines

2. : Which measure is commonly used to describe the occurrence of a disease within a specific population at a given time?
(A) Incidence rate
(B) Prevalence rate
(C) Mortality rate
(D) Attack rate

3. : What is the purpose of calculating the incidence rate in epidemiology?
(A) To determine the total number of existing cases of a disease
(B) To measure the frequency of new cases of a disease in a population
(C) To assess the effectiveness of a treatment
(D) To identify the cause of a disease

4. : Which study design is considered the gold standard for assessing the efficacy of a new intervention or treatment?
(A) Cross-sectional study
(B) Case-control study
(C) Cohort study
(D) Randomized controlled trial (RCT)

5. : What is the primary goal of a case-control study?
(A) To determine the incidence of a disease
(B) To assess the relationship between a risk factor and a disease
(C) To compare treatment outcomes
(D) To describe the prevalence of a disease in a population

6. : Which of the following is an example of a confounding variable in an epidemiological study?
(A) A variable that is part of the study hypothesis
(B) A variable that is measured as part of the outcome
(C) A variable that influences both the exposure and the outcome
(D) A variable that is randomly distributed across study groups

7. : What does “statistical significance” in an epidemiological study indicate?
(A) The results are likely due to chance
(B) The results are meaningful and unlikely due to random variation
(C) The study sample was too small
(D) The study was poorly designed

8. : Which measure provides information about the proportion of individuals with a disease who test positive for that disease?
(A) Sensitivity
(B) Specificity
(C) Positive predictive value
(D) Negative predictive value

9. : What does the term “relative risk” refer to in epidemiology?
(A) The probability of developing a disease given exposure to a risk factor compared to those not exposed
(B) The proportion of individuals with the disease who die from it
(C) The total number of people with the disease
(D) The average age at which individuals develop the disease

10. : What is a key feature of a cross-sectional study?
(A) It assesses exposure and outcome simultaneously
(B) It follows participants over time to assess outcomes
(C) It begins with individuals who have the outcome and looks backward to assess exposure
(D) It randomly assigns participants to different exposure groups

11. : Which of the following is an example of a primary prevention strategy?
(A) Screening for breast cancer
(B) Providing treatment for hypertension
(C) Vaccinating against influenza
(D) Offering counseling for depression

12. : What is the primary focus of a cohort study in epidemiology?
(A) To study individuals with the outcome and look backward for exposure
(B) To measure the prevalence of a disease at a specific point in time
(C) To follow a group of individuals over time to observe the development of outcomes
(D) To compare treatment outcomes between two different therapies

13. : What does “specificity” in diagnostic testing measure?
(A) The proportion of true positives among those who tested positive
(B) The proportion of true negatives among those who tested negative
(C) The proportion of false positives among those who tested positive
(D) The ability of a test to identify individuals with a disease

14. : Which term describes the occurrence of a disease that is consistently present in a specific geographic area?
(A) Epidemic
(B) Pandemic
(C) Endemic
(D) Outbreak

15. : What is the purpose of using a “control group” in an experimental study?
(A) To assess the impact of the intervention on the outcome
(B) To compare the effect of the intervention to a group that does not receive it
(C) To ensure that all participants receive the intervention
(D) To increase the sample size of the study

16. : What does the term “attributable risk” indicate in epidemiology?
(A) The risk of disease in the general population
(B) The proportion of the risk of a disease that can be attributed to a specific risk factor
(C) The total number of cases of a disease in a study
(D) The risk of disease in individuals not exposed to any risk factors