Epidemiological Methods and Data Analysis Epid2002

Assessment2:EpidemiologicalDataAnalysis

The dataset in Table 1 is derived from a comprehensive cohort study conducted at the Uniting Care Facility in NSW. The study primarily investigates the impacts of implementing an advanced sensor system in the rooms of aged care residents. The focus of this research is on assessing whether the introductionofthistechnologyreducestheincidenceoffallsandthefrequencyofunplannedhospital admissions among the elderly population.

Youhavebeengiven adatasetof42agedcare residents withthefollowing variables:

• Resident ID: Identifier for each resident
• Age: Age in years
• Gender: Male/Female
• Mobility Aid: Whether the resident uses a mobility aid (Yes/No)
• Previous Falls: Number of falls in the year prior to the study
• Fall During Study: Fall occurrence during the study period (Yes/No)
• Total Time At Risk: Observation time in months for each resident during the study

Table1:Datafromthecensor-agedcare cohortstudy

Analysethedatabasedonthevariableoffallsandmobilityaidusageamongagedcareresidentsand answer the following questions. Please include the formula you used in your responses.

• Sumamrisethenumberoffallsbymobility aidusageusingatwo-by-twotable(2 marks)
• Computetheincidencerateoffallsformobilityaidusersandnon-users(2points).
• UsetheincidenceratesfromtheabovequestiontocalculatetheRRforfallsamongmobilityaid users versus non-users and interpret the result (2 points).
• CalculateAttributableRisk(AR)(1mark).
• CalculateAttributableFractionamongtheexposed(1mark).
• Calculate Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and interpret the output (2 points). Hint: The proportionofexposedindividualsinthestudyrepresentstheproportioninthelargerpopulation

2. ThedatainTable2belowarefromacohortstudythatstartedon1January1955andfinishedon31 December 1998 (44 years).

NB:

• Noneoftheparticipantshadlung canceratthestartofthe
• Yearsatriskindicatedforallthosethatdroppedoutforreasonsotherthandeath
• Foryearsatrisk,rounduptowholeyears-seefirstrowexample Table 2

AnswerthefollowingquestionsbasedonthedatapresentedinTable2.Pleasemakesureyouhave includedthenecessary formulasandstepsinthecalculation.Fillinthetwocolumnsontherightin Table 2 before you start answering the following questions.

• Calculate the prevalence of lung cancer at 1 JanuaryPlease describe the numerator and denominator before completing the prevalence calculation (2 points).
• What is the prevalence of lung cancer in smokers and in non-smokers at 1 January 1992 (2 points)?

• Calculate the incidence rate for lung cancer in the cohort over the study period (2 points).
• Calculate the incidence rates in nickel workers and non-nickel workers (2 points).
• Calculate the cumulative incidence of lung cancer over the duration of the study from these data (2 points).

• What do you notice about the way you handled the data when calculating the cumulative incidence compared to the incidence rate (2 points)?
• What do the above calculations tell you about the relation of smoking, nickel work and lung cancer (2 points)?
  3. Assume that you are an Epidemiologist employed by the University of Canberra. Your role involves providing advisory support to student research projects across variousMaster's degree students from physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, speech pathology, and public health are approaching you for advice on designing their respective research projects. Please review the following research projects carefully and for each project, (1) suggest the most suitable research design based on the study's aims;
• provide an alternative research design in case the primary choice is not feasible due to practical constraints; and
• provide separate justifications (50 words maximum) for your choices, focusing on how each design will help achieve the research objectives.

Yourjustificationsshouldreflectathoroughunderstandingofbothpracticalimplicationsrelevant to each discipline's research context. For the evaluation of your designs:

• One points will be awarded for correctly identifying the most suitable primary research design for each case study.
• An additional one points will be granted for selecting an appropriate alternative design when the primary choice is not feasible.
• Four points will be dedicated to your justification for each designYour justifications should thoroughly explain why each design is suitable, considering practical aspects that influence the feasibility and effectiveness of the research.
  • Early intervention in speech-language pathology for toddlers with developmental delays: Speech Pathology students want to design a study to assess the effectiveness of early speech and language intervention in toddlers showing signs of developmental delays compared to intervention at later stages (6 points).
  • Long-term benefits of early intervention in pediatric occupational therapy: Occupational therapy students want to explore the impact of early intervention on developmental outcomes in children. Specifically, they want to assess how occupational therapy administered early in life influences cognitive, motor, and social development (6 points).
  • Investigating risk factors for chronic lower back pain among office workers: Chronic lower backpain (CLBP) is a prevalent issue among office workers, largely attributed to prolonged sitting and poor ergonomic practices. Understanding the risk factors associated with CLBP can help in developing targeted interventions to reduce its incidence and improve workplaceTherefore, a group of physiotherapy students want to identify and analyse the specific occupational and behavioral risk factors that contribute to the development of chronic lower back pain among office workers (6 points).