Answer the following for each of the below 4 study abstracts: 1. What were the r
ID: 2928579 • Letter: A
Question
Answer the following for each of the below 4 study abstracts: 1. What were the researchers interested in finding out (What is the exposure of interest? What is the health outcome of interest?)? 2. What is the study design? Who are the cases? Who are the controls? 3. What did they find, specifically? Interpret the odds ratio (or relative risk, as appropriate) 4. What conclusions do the researchers draw from their findings? What do you think of their conclusions? Objective: To examine the relation between nut consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in a cohort of women from the Nurses' Health Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Nurses' Health Study.Subjects: 86 016 women from 34 to 59 years of age without previously diagnosed coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer at baseline in 1980. Main outcome measures: Major coronary heart disease including non-fatal myocardial infarction and fatal coronary heart disease. Results: 1255 major coronary disease events occurred during 14 years of follow up. Women who ate more than five units of nuts (one unit equivalent to 1 oz of nuts) a week (frequent consumption) had a significantly lower risk of total coronary heart disease (relative risk 0.65) than women who never ate nuts or who ate less than one unit a month (rare consumption) Conclusions: Frequent nut consumption was associated with a reduced risk of both fatal coronary heart disease and non-fatal myocardial infarction. These data, and those from other epidemiological and clinical studies, support a role for nuts in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.Explanation / Answer
1) ans:
Here, the epidemiology study is carried out in order to examine the relation between the nut consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease in a group of women.
The nut consumption is the exposure of interest, and the health outcome of interest is the risk of coronary heart disease.
2) ans:
It is a prospective cohort study, in which the subjects belonging to same group with varying habits are observed over a longitudinal period of time in order to obtain an outcome. Initially no one among the subject would not have the outcome but in due course of time depending on their habits, which may be understood as exposure of interest, the persons are likely to be obtaining the disease. A total of 86,016 women from 34 to 59 years of age without previously diagnosed coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer at baseline in 1980 are observed.
Here, the cases are women who are affected with major coronary heart disease including non-fatal mycardinal infarction and fatal coronary heart disease.
The controls are women who had a significantly lower risk of total coronary heart disease.
The cases and the controls are compared in order to arrive at the conclusion whether the consumption of nuts has any relation with the risk of coronary heart disease.
3) ans:
Among the total observed 86,016 members they found that only 1,255 major coronary heart events occured during 14years of follow up. It is observed that women who ate more than five units of nuts a week had a significantly lower risk of total coronary heart disease (relative risk 0.65).
This relative risk of 0.65 indicate that women who have exposure ( ie., consumption of nuts of more than five units in a week) have 0.65 times the risk of obtaining major coronary heart disease ( both non-fatal myocardinal and fatal coronary disease ) than those who had rare consumption of nuts (i.e., who never ate nuts or who ate less than one unit a month).
4) ans:
Frequent nut consumption was associated with a reduced risk of both fatal coronary heart disease and non-fatal myocardinal infarction.
The study clearly supports with the evidence that the women who have habit of frequent consumption of nuts has significantly lower risk of contracting major coronary heart disease including non-fatal myocardial infraction and fatal coronary heart disease.