Seminar 1 Answers

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS 1 (HSH205)

SEMINAR 1: DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES (1)

1. Complete the following Activities in Carneiro et al (2011). Answers available in the text book.
• 1.2 on page 14
• 1.3 on page 15
• 1.4 on page 15
• 1.5 on page 16

2. Discuss the key features of the following descriptive epidemiological study designs:
a) Cross-sectional studies
- Describe health states or events at a specific point in time (referred to as a
snapshot in time).
- Generally measure prevalence and because of this are often called prevalence
studies.
- Draw random samples from the population of interest

b) Repeat cross-sectional studies

- Describe the health state or event of interest at a specific multiple points in
time.
- Generally measure prevalence and because of this are often called prevalence
studies.
- Draw a new random sample from the population of interest at each time point.
- Can provide some information about time trends or on the natural history or
prognosis of a disease.

c) Longitudinal studies
- Describe the health state or event of interest over a specified period of time.
- Measure incidence of the health state or event.
- Draw random samples from the population of interest and follow them over
time taking repeated measures.
- Particularly useful for studying the natural history and prognosis of disease and
describing changes over time.