Psych CASC / OSCE · Foundations — epidemiologic methods for psychiatry
Journal club epidemiology critique — teaching/CASC-style station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style teaching station: prevalence type, response bias, OR vs PAF, causal language, screening base rates.
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Study tools
Target exams
FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB
Prompt
You are the psychiatry registrar facilitating a 10-minute teaching station with a foundation doctor and a medical student. Station material is a one-page abstract: 'Cross-sectional household survey (n=1,200, response rate 48%). Lifetime depression by self-report checklist 28%. Cannabis use associated with depression OR 1.9 (95% CI 1.2–3.0). Authors conclude cannabis causes nearly one-third of depression (PAF 30%) and recommend universal school cannabis screening using a 2-item tool (Sn 80%, Sp 80%) to prevent depression.' Your job is to teach correct measure choice, bias threats, PAF assumptions, and why universal screening PPV will fail — without humiliating juniors or dismissing all observational evidence.
Station brief
Format. Teaching/communication station, approximately 8–10 minutes. Facilitate; do not monologue. [1]
Candidate instructions. Help the team correctly name the frequency measure, list bias threats, explain why PAF 30% is not proved, and show why universal school screening is epidemiologically weak at low prevalence. Close with a collaborative rewrite of the abstract’s conclusion. [2][3][4]
References7ShowHide
- [1]Grimes DA, Schulz KF An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land Lancet, 2002.PMID 11809203
- [2]Grimes DA, Schulz KF Bias and causal associations in observational research Lancet, 2002.PMID 11812579
- [3]Rockhill B, Newman B, Weinberg C Use and misuse of population attributable fractions Am J Public Health, 1998.PMID 9584027
- [4]Altman DG, Bland JM Diagnostic tests 2: Predictive values BMJ, 1994.PMID 8038641
- [5]Andermann A, Blancquaert I, Beauchamp S, Déry V Revisiting Wilson and Jungner in the genomic age Bull World Health Organ, 2008.PMID 18438522
- [6]von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, et al. STROBE statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies Lancet, 2007.PMID 18064739
- [7]Hill AB The environment and disease: association or causation? Proc R Soc Med, 1965.PMID 14283879