Clinically Relevant Examples
Below is a list of examples from ActivEpi Web that consider research studies about clinically relevant health problems:
| Example | Lesson # |
Epi Topic |
|---|---|---|
Nurses Health Study |
2 |
Overview of Epi |
Bogalusa Legionnaires’s disease outbreak |
2 |
Overview of Epi |
Rotterdam Study on Alzheimer’s disease |
2, 3 |
Overview of Epi |
3 |
Epi Study Designs (Cohort Study) |
|
Clinical Trial on Insulin Therapy |
3 |
Epi Study Designs |
Visual Display Terminals and risk for spontaneous abortion |
3 |
Epi Study Designs (Cohort Study) |
Reye’s Syndrome and aspirin |
3 |
Epi Study Designs (Case-control study) |
15 |
Matching (individual category matching) |
|
Risk factors for Creutzfeld- Jacob disease (CJD) |
3 |
Epi Study Designs (Case-control study) |
Cigarette Smoking and Peripheral Vascular Disease |
3 |
Epi Study Designs (Cross-sectional study) |
Parkinson’s disease rate in Rotterdam Study |
4 |
Measures of Disease Frequency (incidence rate) |
Smoking and lung cancer |
5 |
Measures of Effect (risk ratio, odds ratio) |
Quit smoking and CHD survival |
5 |
Measures of Effect, Potential Impact (risk ratio) |
6 |
Potential Impact (risk difference, etiologic fraction) |
|
12 |
Simple Analysis (statistical inference) |
|
| CDC study of foodborne outbreak at resort in Haiti | 5 |
Measures of Effect (exposure odds ratio) |
12 |
Simple Analyis (statistical inference) |
|
Personality type and CHD prevalence |
5 |
Measure of Effect (prevalence odds ratio) |
13 |
Control of Variables (options for control) |
|
Genetic factors and risk of bone fractures from osteoporosis in Rotterdam study |
5 |
Measures of Effect (risk ratio vs. odds ratio) |
Borderline cholesterol and mortality rate in Chicago study |
5 |
Measures of Effect (rate ratio) |
6 |
Potential Impact (rate difference, etiologic fraction) |
|
12 |
Simple Analysis (statistical inference) |
| Example | Lesson # |
Epi Topic |
|---|---|---|
B-antagonist or diuretic treatment for mild hypertension and risk for stroke in British Med. Res Council study |
6 |
Potential Impact (number needed to treat) |
Subclinical hypthyroidism and incidence of MI in Rotterdam study |
6 |
Potential Impact (etiologic fraction) |
Measles vaccination and incidence of measles in Texarkana study |
6 |
Potential Impact (prevented fraction) |
Smoking and bone cancer in hospital –based study |
7 |
Validity (Berkson’s selection bias) |
Health effects of Agent Orange Exposure in Vietnam War veterans |
7 |
Validity (Information bias) |
L-tryptophan supplements and EMS |
8 |
Selection Bias (preferential diagnosis) |
Estrogen use and Endometrial cancer |
8 |
Selection Bias (choice of controls) |
15 |
Matching (pair matching, McNemar analysis, logistic regression) |
|
Condom usage and STD prevention |
9 |
Selection Bias (choice of controls) |
Diagnosing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) using ultrasound |
9 |
Information bias (diagnostic testing, predictive value) |
Toxic chemical exposure and lung cancer risk |
10 |
Confounding (risk ratio, by smoking) |
14 |
Stratified Analysis (Mantel-Haenszel test. adjusted risk ratio) |
|
Alcohol consumption and oral cancer |
10 |
Confounding (odds ratio, by age) |
14 |
Stratified Analysis (adjusted odds ratio) |
|
Alcohol consumption and bladder cancer |
10 |
Confounding (odds ratio, by race) |
Atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease in Rotterdam study |
10 |
Confounding (odds ratio, by genetic make-up) |
Diabetes Mellitus and CHD risk |
13 |
Controlling Variables (logistic model, risk prediction) |
Antibiotic resistance- Risk factors for MRSA in Atlanta hospital study |
14 |
Stratified analysis (stratum-specific analyes) |
Obesity and all-cause mortality |
14 |
Stratified analysis (person-time data) |
Cholesterol level and CHD risk in Evans County study |
14 |
14 Stratified analysis (3 exposure catergories, logistic Regression) |
History of abortion and tubal pregnancy |
15 |
Matching (R-to-1 matched analysis) |
Job assignment and chronic back pain |
15 |
Matching (Analysis of frequency matched data) |