Epidemiology module of practical skills for mbbs student

Solution for Exercise C

1. 50/500 = 10%

2. 65/500 = 13%

3. Risk means incidence; # of new cases/population at risk = 15 = 3.3%

450

Exercise D

The Hospital X Emergency Room in Community A recorded 120 asthma cases during 1995 out of a total of 1450 individual children seen. The state Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) program was interested in determining if these numbers meant an increased risk of a child developing asthma in Community A or a possible decrease in the effectiveness of the medication taken by asthmatic children in Community A. In 1996 they asked the hospital to track the number of first time asthma diagnoses admitted to the ER versus those asthma cases who visited the ER but had been previously diagnosed as having asthma.

In 1996 out of 1370 children seen in the ER, there were 130 asthma cases: 42 were new cases, 88 had been previously diagnosed prior to the ER visit.

1. 
   What was the risk of having asthma in 1995 for children in Community A seeking ER care at Hospital X?
   

2. 
   What was the prevalence of childhood asthma in 1995 in the ER at Hospital X in Community A?
   

3. 
   What was the prevalence of childhood asthma in 1996 in the ER at Hospital X in Community A?
   

4. 
   Can the state CSHCN program answer its question?
   

5. 
   Does knowing the incidence of childhood asthma diagnoses in the ER at Hospital X in Community Ain 1996 help? What is the incidence?
   

6. 
   What else is needed to answer the CSHCN program’s question?