REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT
2: Article Critique
Using the Watters et al. article âAlcoholic Beverages and
Prostate Cancer in a Prospective US Cohort Study,â answer the following
questions. Answers should be submitted in Canvas Webcourses by April 6, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service at 12:00
pm (noon) by following the submission link under the Module called âRequired
Assignment 2: Article Critique.â No
paper submissions will be graded.
Answers will be submitted just like the study design required
assignment. You may enter the answer submission quiz up to THREE times prior to the
due date. I recommend recording your
answers on this assignment first, and then transferring them to
Webcourses. Since we are discussing this
assignment in class later on the day it is due, no late assignments will be
accepted unless you miss class on April 6 for an
emergency with acceptable documentation.
All other late assignments will receive a score of zero. All questions are worth one (1) point unless
otherwise noted.
1.
Which of the following is not part of the initial
background or rationale provided by the authors to justify the need for their
study?
a.
Although there have been more than 60 studies of
this association, the results are inconsistent, and several critical gaps
remain to be addressed using prospective data with sample sizes sufficient to
detect small to modest associations, including whether the effect of alcohol
differs by prostate cancer stage, how patterns of alcohol consumption influence
risk, and alcoholâs role in fatal prostate cancers.
b.
One case-control study reported a protective
association between prostate cancer incidence and red wineâ¦.
c.
Alcoholic beverages have been identified as
known human carcinogens, with several biologically plausible mechanisms that
may influence prostate cancer risk.
d.
The report by the World Cancer Research Fund on
nutrition, physical activity, and cancer concluded that the data were too
limited to determine an association between alcohol and prostate cancer.
2.
Who comprised the study population for the
current study?
a.
Participants in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health
Study
b.
Patients in the Social Security Administration
Death Master File in the United States
c.
Patients in 11 state cancer registry databases
d.
None of the above
3.
What study design was used?
a.
Case-control
b.
Cross-sectional
c.
Ecological
d.
Cohort
4.
What is the primary dependent variable?
a.
Wine consumption
b.
Prostate cancer
c.
Beer consumption
d.
Liquor consumption
5.
How did the authors determine whether or not
participants had prostate cancer at baseline?
a.
Laboratory exam
b.
Self-report via questionnaire
c.
Medical record review
d.
They did not determine whether or not
participants had prostate cancer at baseline
6.
Type in the major categories for the prostate
cancer variable. (3 points)
7.
Which of the following citations was used to
categorize portion sizes and nutrients?
a.
Platz, ES, Leitzmann MF, Michaud DS, et al. Interrelation of energy intake, body size,
and physicial activity with prostate cancer in a large prospective cohort
study. Cancer Res. 2003; 63(23):8542-8548.
b.
Velicer CM, Kristal A, White E. Alcohol use and
the risk of prostate cancer: results from the VITAL Cohort Study. Nutr Cancer. 2006 – Write a paper; Professional research paper writing service – Best essay writers;56(1):50-56.
c.
Dennis LK, Hayes RB. Alcohol and prostate
cancer. Epidemiol Rev.
2001;23(1):110-114.
d.
Tippett KS, Cypel YS. Design and Operation: The Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by
Individuals and Diet and Health Knowledge Survey, 1994-96. Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by
Individuals, Nationwide Food Surveys.
Washington, DC: Agricultural Research Service, US Department of
Agriculture; 1997.
8.
Type in the first five (5) confounders/covariates
(i.e. risk factors) that were included in the final multiple regression model?
(5 points)
9.
Go to Table 1.
Type in the correct numbers into a shortened version of the table below. Reproduce the numbers exactly as they are in
the article table. (12 points)
Table 1.
Selected Characteristics According to Alcohol Consumption Among Men in the
NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, 1995-2003 (n=294,707).
Characteristic
Alcohol (Drinks/Day)
0
(n=61,431)
<1
(n = 146,027)
1-3
(n=55,438)
>3
(n=31,811)
Median age, years
Married, %
History of diabetes, %
Using the abridged version of Table 1, answer the
following questions.
10. There
is a statistically significant difference in median age between the four
exposure categories.
a.
Yes
b.
No
c.
Cannot determine
11. Marital
status is likely to be a confounder of the association between alcohol
consumption and prostate cancer.
a.
Probably
b.
Probably not
c.
Cannot determine
12. Heavier
drinkers were less likely to report a history of diabetes than lighter or
non-drinkers.
a.
Yes
b.
No
c.
Cannot determine
13. Go
to Table 2. Fill in the numbers from the
article in the abridged version of the table below. Reproduce the numbers that should go in place
of the red X exactly as they appear in the article table. (8 points)
Table 2. Relative Risk of Prostate
Cancer in Relation to Daily Alcohol Consumption Among Men in the NIH-AARP Diet
and Health Study, 1995-2003.
Alcohol
(Drinks/Day)
Multivariate HRa
95% CI
Non-advanced cases
0
1.
<1 X 1.01, 1.11 1-3 1.06 X , 1.12 >3-<6 X 1.11, 1.29 ?6 1.25 1.13, X Fatal Cases 0 1. <1 0.86 X , 1.08 1-3 X 0.72, 1.26 >3-<6 X 0.53, X ?6 0.45 0.25, 0.81 aAdjusted for age, race, education, marital status, height, body mass index, physical activity, family history of prostate cancer, diabetes, self-reported health status, cigarette smoking, prostate-specific antigen screening and digital rectal examination, total energy excluding alcohol, ?-tocopherol, calcium, red meat, fish, tomato, ?-linolenic acid, and selenium. Use the data from the abridged Table 2 to answer the questions below. Thus, all questions refer to results from the fully adjusted model. 14. How many covariates were included in the fully adjusted regression model? Assume PSA screening and DRE were included as one summary variable. 15. What alpha (?) level was used in this study? 16. The HR for 0 drinks per day is 1. What does this mean? a. There is no association between not drinking and prostate cancer b. Zero drinks per day was used as the reference or comparison group c. It is an error d. Cannot determine 17. There is evidence of a dose-response trend associated with increasing drinks per day among both non-advanced and fatal cases. a. Yes b. No c. Cannot determine 18. Overall, the risk of prostate cancer increased as the number of alcoholic drinks consumed per day increased among non-advanced cases. a. Yes b. No c. Cannot determine 19. Look at the HR for non-advanced cases who drank >3-<6 alcoholic drinks per day. This result is statistically significant. a. Yes b. No c. Cannot determine 20. Overall, the risk of prostate cancer increased as the number of alcoholic drinks consumed per day increased among fatal cases. a. Yes b. No c. Cannot determine 21. Look at the HR for fatal cases who drank >3-<6 alcoholic drinks per day. This result is statistically significant. d. Yes e. No f. Cannot determine 22. As briefly as possible, explain why you think we observe a different pattern of results for non-advanced cases compared to fatal cases. When making an overall conclusion about this study (does alcohol consumption impact risk of prostate cancer?), which groupâs results would you feel most comfortable using (non-advanced, advanced, or fatal prostate cancer)? Explain. (5 points)
