Epiville

Screening

Study Design

Before you can begin your study, you must write a proposal to secure funding for the project. In the proposal, you must describe how a screening program would fit into the prevention activities of the EDOH.

1. A screening program for Susser Syndrome would fall under what type of prevention activity?

  1. Primary
  2. Secondary
  3. Tertiary
Answer (a) — incorrect: The disease process would have already been initiated among the individuals identified by the screening program. Primary prevention is characterized by individual or community efforts to stop the disease process from initiating (Aschengrau & Seage p. 413-14).
Answer (b) — correct: The rationale for the screening program is that it will identify asymptomatic persons with Susser Syndrome and provide early treatment so that the expression of the disease will be less severe, which is characteristic of secondary prevention (Aschengrau & Seage p. 414-15).
Answer (c) — incorrect: A tertiary prevention program is implemented after a clinical diagnosis has been confirmed to alleviate suffering and minimize complications of the disease. The screening program you hope to design for Susser Syndrome will identify persons who are asymptomatic and have not yet been diagnosed.

As luck would have it, your study is funded by a generous grant from DoseEmAll Pharmaceuticals . You plan to recruit 1000 subjects with no symptoms of Susser Syndrome. Since you want to ensure that enough individuals in your study will develop Susser Syndrome, you decide to recruit workers from Glop Industries , where an agent suspected to cause Susser Syndrome is manufactured. The EDOH has conducted a study which demonstrated a relationship between exposure to chemicals involved in the production of Superclean and a higher risk of Susser Syndrome.

At enrollment, you collect a blood sample from each participating subject to perform the new SussStat test. One year later, you have each subject return to undergo thorough clinical assessment for SS, using the gold standard of diagnosis set by the EDOH .