A study testing a new prostate cancer screening tool enrolls 52,820 participants. Among the 8950 participants diagnosed with prostate cancer through histological examination, 8900 had a positive test outcome. Meanwhile, 13,750 healthy participants had a positive screening result. What is the specificity of this novel screening tool?
The serum potassium levels of 1,000 patients who are prescribed an ACE inhibitor were measured. The average potassium level was found to be 4.6 mmol/l with a standard deviation of 0.3 mmol/l. What is the correct statement regarding this study?
A trial is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a new screening test for detecting early signs of heart disease in a group of patients. The contingency table below shows the results of the trial:
Heart disease present Heart disease absent
Test positive 120 15
Test negative 10 255
What is the positive predictive value of the new screening test (rounded to 2 decimal places)?
What is the definition of the standardised mortality ratio, and how does it differ from the age-standardised mortality ratio?
You are working in an area with 65% adult flu vaccine uptake. There has been an outbreak of influenza in the local community. The regional public health body wants to investigate the incident further and identify the most likely events which spread the disease.
What study design is most appropriate?
You wish to investigate an outbreak of atypical pneumonia cases in the elderly population and determine if there has been exposure to a particular risk factor.
Which study design would be most appropriate?
A new medication for reducing joint pain in elderly patients is being tested compared to a standard pain medication. A total of 1500 elderly patients were enrolled in the trial with 750 taking the new medication and 750 taking the standard pain medication.
After completing the same treatment period, 50 patients within the new medication group reported experiencing joint pain, giving an experimental event rate (EER) of 0.067, compared to 150 patients within the standard pain medication group, giving a control event rate (CER) of 0.2.
What is the numbers needed to treat (NNT) for this new medication in reducing joint pain in elderly patients?
A study is conducted to determine the normal range of IgE levels in elderly individuals. Assuming that IgE levels are normally distributed, what proportion of elderly individuals will have an IgE level greater than 2 standard deviations from the mean?
Which of the following is accurate concerning the placebo effect?
A case-control study is being designed to investigate the association between hypertension and a new medication. What is the typical outcome measure in a case-control study?