A man is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Which of the following data should the nurse know to answer the man when he asks, “What are the chances I’ll survive this thing?”

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B: Case fatality rate. This is the proportion of people diagnosed with a specific disease who die from that disease within a specified period. For a man diagnosed with prostate cancer, the case fatality rate would give him an estimate of the likelihood of dying from the cancer. A: Attack rate is the proportion of people who develop a specific disease among those exposed to the disease. It does not provide information on survival chances. C: Cause-specific morbidity rate is the proportion of people with a specific disease in a population. It does not directly indicate survival chances. D: Crude mortality rate is the total number of deaths from all causes in a population. It does not focus on a specific disease's survival chances.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C: The National Hospital Discharge Survey. This source provides comprehensive data on hospital discharges, including diagnoses and procedures. It offers a broad overview of health problems and treatment trends on a national level, which can be valuable for long-range planning at a local medical center. A: Local data from a professional survey in the city may not capture a comprehensive picture of health trends compared to a national survey like the National Hospital Discharge Survey. B: The National Health Interview Survey focuses more on health behaviors and access to healthcare, rather than specific health problems and treatment trends, which may not be as directly relevant for staffing and space allocation planning. D: State vital statistics provide information on births, deaths, and other vital events but may not offer detailed data on specific health problems and treatment trends, as needed for staffing and space allocation planning.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B: Ecological study. The nurse is analyzing data at a group level (school) rather than individual level. This type of study evaluates associations between exposure (school remodeling) and outcome (asthma rates) in a population. It does not involve following individuals over time like a cohort study (C). Descriptive epidemiological studies (A) focus on describing the distribution of health outcomes in a population, but do not investigate associations. Choice D does not make sense in this context.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B because the awareness of human susceptibility to animal diseases has been publicized. This is crucial in understanding the transmission of infections from animals to humans, highlighting the importance of monitoring and preventing zoonotic diseases. Other choices are incorrect because A is focused on bioterrorism, which is a different concern, and D is about drug-resistant strains, not the primary reason for the focus on contagious infections in public health. Choice C is incomplete, so it cannot be considered as a valid option.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C because epidemiology focuses on investigating patterns and causes of diseases in populations. Recommending a restaurant closure due to a norovirus outbreak is a key epidemiological activity as it involves identifying the source of an illness and implementing measures to prevent further spread. A: Prescribing antibiotics is more related to individual treatment rather than population-level disease investigation. B: Teaching a community class on diabetes is more about health education rather than disease surveillance and control. D: Encouraging families to eat dinner together is a community health promotion activity, not directly related to epidemiological investigations.