American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test

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What is the purpose of the Kaplan-Meier statistical technique?

  1. To analyze survival data with censored observations

  2. To measure blood pressure changes over time

  3. To compare treatment efficacy in randomized trials

  4. To estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases

The correct answer is: To analyze survival data with censored observations

The Kaplan-Meier statistical technique is primarily used to analyze survival data, particularly in the context of clinical research and epidemiology. Its major advantage is its ability to handle censored observations, which occur when the outcome event (such as death or disease progression) has not occurred for all subjects by the end of the study period. Censored data is common in survival analysis; for example, patients may leave the study or the study may end while they are still alive. Kaplan-Meier estimates provide a way to calculate the probability of survival over time, taking into account these censored observations without biasing the survival estimates. The technique produces a survival curve that visually represents the proportion of subjects surviving at different time points, allowing researchers to assess and interpret survival rates effectively within a specific cohort or study group. While it does not directly measure blood pressure changes over time, compare treatment efficacy among different groups, or estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases, it plays a crucial role in the analysis of time-to-event data in various medical research scenarios.

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