A third-grade student approaches you and asks you to explain the difference between primary and secondary prevention strategies to reduce disease burden. As part of your explanation, you decide to use an example of a secondary prevention measure to illustrate your description.
Which of the following is an example of a secondary prevention measure?
Disease prevention measures can be categorized as primary or secondary. What is an example of a secondary prevention measure?
A study is conducted to compare the effectiveness of a new blood test for diagnosing dementia, compared to the current gold standard investigation of cognitive testing. The study involved 500 patients with suspected dementia. During the study, the cognitive testing was unavailable for 15 of the patients, resulting in them only having the new blood test.
As all patients did not receive both investigations, what bias is this study most at risk from?
Researchers conducted a case-control study examining the relationship between poor diet and coronary artery disease. They enrolled cases from cardiac wards in hospitals and controls from General Practice surgeries in a single city. Diet for the past 5 years was assessed using an in-person interview in the setting where the patients were enrolled. After conducting the study, researchers found that, on average, the dietary interview with cases lasted 20 minutes longer than the interview with controls. In addition, the information collected from cases was much more detailed.
Which type of bias has most likely occurred?
A new biomarker test is developed to detect breast cancer at early stages. The company that developed the test conducted a randomised study to compare the new test to the current standard of care – mammography – among women over 40. They concluded that breast cancer patients whose cancer was identified by the biomarker lived, on average, 1.5 years longer than those whose cancers were identified by mammography. Subsequently, additional independent studies showed that there was truly no difference in survival between the two groups.
Which of the following biases is most likely to have occurred?
Over the last 150 years, the life expectancy of people in all countries throughout the world has continued to increase. What is the estimated maximum lifespan for a human being?
You are working on a Pediatric Ward and have been asked to report all cases of notifiable disease to the local authority proper officers (under Health Protection Legislation 2010). There are eight patients whom you feel may have a notifiable disease:
Patient 1 2-year-old boy with acute meningitis (no causative agent identified yet)
Patient 2 5-year-old girl with severe acute respiratory syndrome
Patient 3 8-year-old boy with diarrhoea (no causative agent identified)
Patient 4 6-year-old girl with hepatitis B (high HBeAg titre)
Patient 5 4-year-old boy with flu (influenzae virus)
Patient 6 10-year-old girl with a community-acquired pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae) identified
Patient 7 3-year-old boy with diarrhoea (Clostridium difficile isolated)
Patient 8 7-year-old girl with glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus)
Which five patients require notification via the proper officer?
A randomised, placebo-controlled trial of a new anti-platelet agent is completed in elderly patients who have atrial fibrillation. A total of 1000 elderly patients were randomised to receive the new agent, and 1000 elderly patients were randomised to receive a placebo. In the group receiving the new agent, 50 elderly people suffered a stroke, compared with 100 elderly people in the placebo group.
What is the number needed to treat (NNT) for the new anti-platelet agent to prevent one stroke in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation?
A woman receives a letter in the post inviting her to her first NHS cervical screening appointment.
Which of the following best describes the timing and frequency of the UK cervical screening programme?
What is the life expectancy for a man in the UK?