Epiville

Quizzes

Quiz 5, Module Ecological

5. Which of the following is the primary shortcoming when using a reportable disease registry to collect Susser Syndrome cases in our study?

  1. We may not capture all of the Susser Syndrome cases occurring in Epiville.
  2. We would only capture prevalence data, not incidence data
  3. We are relying on the diagnostic capabilities of the doctors and hospitals and are assuming that all reported cases were valid.
Answer (a) — incorrect: Although a valid shortcoming in most studies, as we have defined it, all reportable diseases (including Susser Syndrome) must be reported to the Department of Health. Therefore, in a perfect world, no cases would go unreported (In fact, not all SARS cases were reported to the Department of Health through passive surveillance during the most recent outbreak).
Answer (b) — incorrect: The registry will have a date of initial diagnosis. As long as we have a clearly defined time component to our study, we will be able to capture incident as well as prevalent cases.
Answer (c) — correct: We do not have the time nor the resources to independently verify that all reported cases have been correctly diagnosed.