An epidemiologist found five cases of “big toe cancer” in the Yukon Territory. B
ID: 85116 • Letter: A
Question
An epidemiologist found five cases of “big toe cancer” in the Yukon Territory. Because there were only a few cases, the epidemiologist decided to conduct a matched case-control study to determine whether shoe size larger than 9 is a risk factor for big toe cancer. Cases were individually matched to one control for daily activity, history of athlete’s foot, and history of ingrown toenails. The following data were gathered:
Shoe size > 9
Pair Case Control
1 Yes No
2 No No
3 No Yes
4 Yes Yes
5 No Yes
Compute the proper measure of association.
Interpret your results.
If you were to investigate a rare cancer in Lynchburg, where might you look for data?
What would be necessary legally and ethically to be able to utilize this data set(s)?
Explanation / Answer
A measure of association in a case-control study would be the odds ratio, which is given by the ratio of total cases to total controls. In this case, there are 5 cases and 5 controls, so the ratio is 1.
An odds ratio of 1 indicates that the event of having 'big toe cancer' can occur in either of the groups.
You would look for data at the Alan B. Pearson Regionl cancer center.
Legally, the set of required documents to acquire it as will be stated to be provided by the data-providing center and ethically one would require not to disclose the data and keep it anonymous.