EPH 621: Fundamentals of Epidemiology

Data Sources and PH Surveillance Homework

 

Many data sources (e.g., birth and death certificates) including surveillance data are important to
epidemiologists. In addition to the lecture notes, please read chapter 5 of your textbook carefully
to prepare for quiz/exam. This HW includes only a few sample questions.

1. Health insurance statistics provide a generally representative picture of the health status of the
United States population.

a. True
b. False

Answer: False

2. The Freedom of Information Act exempts (does not allow) the release of personal medical
data.

a. True
b. False

Answer: True

3. PH surveillance is systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data and

dissemination for use in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice
for a short period of time.

a. True
b. False

Answer: False - Definition of PH surveillance should include"ongoing"

4. Mortality statistics data source has the advantage of being almost nearly complete in the U.S.

a. True
b. False

Answer: True

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5. Choose the incorrect answer. The U.S. Census:
a. administers a detailed questionnaire to a subset of the population
b. attempts to account for every person in the country
c. is called the decennial census and is administered every five years
d. characterizes the population according to demographic variables
e. all of the above

Answer: c

6. Which of the following is not one of the four criteria for the utility of epidemiologic data?

a. The nature of the data

b. The completeness of the data
c. The reason the data are collected
d. The availability of the data
e. all of the above

Answer: c

7. The Vital Statistics Registration System in the U.S. collects data on all vital events including:
a. births
b. deaths
c. fetal deaths
d. a and b only
e. a, b, and c

Answer : e

8. Clinical data sources include the following except:

a. hospital data
b. diseases treated in special clinics
c. immunization records of students in school
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 d. data from physicians’ records
e. none of the above
Answer: c

9. The goal of “Vancouver 2010 Disease and Injury Surveillance” was to monitor and respond
to unusual health events before, during and soon after the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and
Paralympic games. This is a type of

a. active surveillance

b. passive surveillance

c. sentinel surveillance

d. all of the above

e. none of the above

Answer: c

10. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) is

a. a coordinated system of infectious disease registries

b. a coordinated system of cancer registries

c. strategically located across the U.S.

d. a and b

e. b and c

Answer: e

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