Handling health data

Question 1

what are Kaplan-Meier plots

Answer 1

Visualizing patient survival over time in research. Shows the probability of remaining “alive” (event-free) for a group after diagnosis or treatment.

Question 2

what are P-values, and how are they used in healthcare

Answer 2

P-value: A statistical measure (0-1) that quantifies the probability of observing a result at least as extreme as the one obtained, assuming the null hypothesis (no effect or difference) is true.

Question 3

define the P-values range from 0 to 1.

Answer 3

Interpretation: The lower the P-value, the stronger the evidence against the null hypothesis, suggesting that the observed effect is less likely due to chance.
Common threshold: A P-value of 0.05 or less is often considered statistically significant, suggesting that the observed effect is likely real.

Question 4

What does a high score P-Value suggest?

Answer 4

Scores how likely (0-1) this finding (e.g., new drug) could be random (high score = more likely).

Question 5

What does a low score P-Value suggest?

Answer 5

Lower score (e.g., 0.05 or less) means stronger evidence for a real effect, not just chance.

Question 6

what is an Outlier?

Answer 6

2 standard deviations above or below the mean of the dataset

Question 7

What does the PROMPT mnemonic stand for?

Answer 7

P - Presentation: How is the information presented?
R - Relevance: Is the information relevant to your topic or need?
O - Objectivity: Is the information presented in a neutral way, or does it have a strong bias or agenda?
M - Method: How was the information obtained or created?
P - Provenance: Where does the information come from?
T - Timeliness: Is the information up-to-date and relevant to the current time period?

Question 8

Correlation

Answer 8

A significant statistical relationship between two variables. An association between two variables.

Question 9

Causation

Answer 9

Indicative of an association for which there is evidence that a specific event is the cause of a specific outcome.

Question 10

What is EBM and how does it relate to the hierarchy of evidence

Answer 10

Reliance reliance on multiple sources of data underlies the hierarchy of evidence which supports evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Question 11

The hierarchy of evidence and EBM

Answer 11

The hierarchy of evidence allows EBM practitioners to appropriately classify the available materials to ensure they do not base decisions on an insufficient level of evidence

Question 12

PICO defines four critical items to consider?

Answer 12

P stands for Population; which patients or other group of people/participants are the focus?

I stands for Intervention; what procedure/manipulation (e.g. medication) will be applied (to the Population)?

C stands for Comparator; what should the Intervention be compared to (e.g. a control group to whom the Intervention was not applied)?

O stands for Outcome; what will the impact of the intervention be (on the Population) and what indicators (Outcome Measures) will be used to determine this?

Question 13

What is the standard scientific convention for graphs?

Answer 13

x-axis (horizontal), independent variable
y-axis (vertical) dependent variable

Question 14

Independent Variable (IV):

Answer 14

X manipulated or changed by the researcher in an experiment or study.

It’s the factor you control to see how it affects something else.
predictor, cause, or input variable.

Question 15

Dependent Variable (DV):

Answer 15

measured or observed to see how it responds to changes in the independent variable.

It’s the outcome or effect that you’re interested in studying.
Response, effect, or output variable.