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Glossary of terms used in health research - F

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  • Factorial design
    • Wikipedia
      A trial design used to assess the individual contribution of treatments given in combination, as well as any interactive effect they may have. Most trials only consider a single factor, where an intervention is compared with one or more alternatives, or a placebo. In a trial using a 2x2 factorial design, participants are allocated to one of four possible combinations. For example in a 2x2 factorial RCT of nicotine replacement and counseling, participants would be allocated to: nicotine replacement alone, counseling alone, both, or neither. In this way it is possible to test the independent effect of each intervention on smoking cessation and the combined effect of (interaction between) the two interventions. This type of study is usually carried out in circumstances where no interaction is likely.
  • Factual databases
    • MeSH
      Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from databases, bibliographic which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references.
  • Fail-safe N
    • The minimum number of undetected studies with negative results that would be needed to change the conclusions of a meta-analysis. A small fail-safe N suggests that the conclusion of the meta-analysis may be susceptible to publication bias.
  • False negative
    • Wikipedia
    • A falsely drawn negative conclusion. In diagnostic tests: a conclusion that a person does not have the disease or condition being tested, when they actually do. In clinical trials.
  • False negative rate
    • Wikipedia
      The proportion of negative tests among people with the disease of the condition. It is typically expressed as a conditional probability or a percentage. For instance, mammography screening has a false negative rate of 5 to 20% depending on age, that is, 5 to 20% of women with breast cancer receive a negative test result. The false negative rate and the sensitivity (hit rate) of a test add up to 100%. The false negative rate and the false positive rate are dependent: to decrease one is to increase the other.
  • False negative reactions
    • MeSH
      Negative test results in subjects who possess the attribute for which the test is conducted. The labeling of diseased persons as healthy when screening in the detection of disease.
  • False positive
    • Wikipedia
      A falsely drawn positive conclusion. In diagnostic tests: a conclusion that a person does have the disease or condition being tested, when they actually do not. In clinical trials.
  • False positive rate
    • Wikipedia
      The proportion of positive tests among people without the disease or condition. It is typically expressed as a conditional probability or a percentage. For instance, if mammography screening has a false positive rate of 5 to 10% depending on age, that is 5 to 10% of women without breast cancer nevertheless receive a positive test result. The false positive rate and the specificity (power) of a test add up to 100%. The false positive rate and the false negative rate are dependent: to decrease one is to increase the other.
  • False positive reactions
    • MeSH
      Positive test results in subjects who do not possess the attribute for which the test is conducted. The labeling of healthy persons as diseased when screening in the detection of disease.
  • Family
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Usually two or more persons living together and related by birth, marriage, or adoption. Families may consist of siblings or other relatives as well as married couples and any children they have.
      A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.
  • Family characteristics
    • MeSH
      Size and composition of the family.
  • Family health
    • MeSH
      The health status of the family as a unit including the impact of the health of one member of the family on the family as a unit and on individual family members; also, the impact of family organization or disorganization on the health status of its members.
  • Family planning
    • Wikipedia
      The conscious effort of couples to regulate the number and spacing of births through artificial and natural methods of contraception. Family planning connotes conception control to avoid pregnancy and abortion, but it also includes efforts of couples to induce pregnancy.
  • Family planning policy
    • MeSH
      A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, to guide and determine present and future decisions on population control by limiting the number of children or controlling fertility, notably through family planning and contraception within the nuclear family.
  • Family planning services
    • MeSH
      Health care programs or services designed to assist individuals in the planning of family size. Various methods of contraception can be used to control the number and timing of childbirths.
  • Family practice
    • MeSH
      A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family.
  • Fatal outcome
    • MeSH
      Death resulting from the presence of a disease in an individual, as shown by a single case report or a limited number of patients. This should be differentiated from death, the physiological cessation of life and from mortality, an epidemiological or statistical concept.
  • Feasibility study
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A feasibility study is an evaluation of a proposal designed to determine the difficulty in carrying out a designated task.
      Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.
  • Fecundability
    • The probability of conception per menstrual cycle or monthly probability of conception for a sexually active couple not using birth control.
  • Fecundity
    • Wikipedia
      The physiological capacity of a woman to produce a child.
  • Feedback effect
    • The impact of performance evaluations on clinicians’ behavior.
      The improvement seen in medical decision because of performance evaluation and feedback.
  • Female genital mutilation
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), female circumcision, or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), is any procedure involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons.
      A general term encompassing three types of excision of the external female genitalia - Sunna, clitoridectomy, and infibulation. It is associated with severe health risks and has been declared illegal in many places, but continues to be widely practiced in a number of countries, particularly in Africa.
  • Fertility
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The actual reproductive performance of an individual, a couple, a group, or a population.
      The capacity to conceive or to induce conception. It may refer to either the male or female.
  • Fertilization
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The penetration of the ovum by the spermatozoon and combination of their genetic material resulting in the formation of a zygote.
      The fusion of a spermatozoon (spermatozoa) with an ovum thus resulting in the formation of a zygote.
  • Fetal death
    • MeSH
      Death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of fertilization, at or after 20 completed weeks of gestational age. The death is indicated by the fact that, after such separation, the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as heart beat, umbilical cord pulsation, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.
      The basic WHO definition of fetal death is the intrauterine death of any conceptus at any time during pregnancy. However, for practical purposes, legal definitions usually require recorded fetal deaths to attain some gestational age (16, 20, 22, 24, or 28 weeks) or birth weight (350, 400, 500, or 1000 g). In the United States, there are eight different definitions by combinations of gestational age and weight, and at least as many in Europe.
      Death of the developing young in utero. Birth of a dead fetus is stillbirth.
  • Fetal death ratio
    • A measure of fetal mortality that compares the number of fetal deaths (stillbirths) with the number of live births over a given period of time.
  • Fetal mortality
    • MeSH
      Number of fetal deaths with stated or presumed gestation of 20 weeks or more in a given population. Late fetal mortality is death after of 28 weeks or more.
  • Fetal mortality rate
    • The number of fetal deaths divided by the total number of fetal deaths and live births (expressed per 1,000).
      Also called stillbirth mortality rate.
  • Fetal research
    • MeSH
      Experimentation on, or using the organs or tissues from, a human or other mammalian conceptus in the postembryonic period, after the major structures have been outlined. In humans, this corresponds to the period from the third month after fertilization until birth.
  • Fetal viability
    • MeSH
      The potential of the fetus to survive outside the uterus after birth, natural or induced. Fetal viability depends largely on the fetal organ maturity, and environmental conditions.
  • Fetus
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth. In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.
      The product of fertilization from completion of embryonic development, at eight completed weeks after fertilization, until abortion or birth.
      The unborn young of a viviparous mammal, in the postembryonic period, after the major structures have been outlined. In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception until birth, as distinguished from the earlier embryo, mammalian.
  • Fidelity of implementation
    • Wikipedia
      Fidelity of implementation refers to the degree to which teachers and other program providers implement programs as intended by the program developers.
  • Field work
    • Wikipedia
      Field work is a general descriptive term for the collection of raw data.
      In public health the use of the term field work refers to epidemiology or the study of epidemics through the gathering of data about the epidemic (such as the pathogen and vector(s) as well as social or sexual contacts, depending upon the situation).
      In survey research, field work refers to face-to-face or telephone interviewing.
      Research done in the real world (i.e. not in a laboratory).
  • File drawer problem
    • Wikipedia
      Term coined by Rosenthal to mean the number of statistically non-significant studies (p > 0.05) that remain unpublished.
      Also called file drawer effect.
  • Financial resource allocation
    • Any process by which financial resources flow from a third-party payer (e.g., government, insurer, etc.) through the health care organization to the individual clinical provider.
  • First trimester pregnancy
    • MeSH
      The beginning third of a human pregnancy, from the first day of the last normal menstrual period (menstruation) through the completion of 14 weeks (98 days) of gestation.
  • Fixed costs
    • The costs associated with operating a particular program or intervention that do not vary with the scale of provision such as the number of patients treated or the number of tests performed. Fixed costs are only “fixed” in the short-term. For example, the building in which a program is housed would be regarded as a fixed cost initially because small changes in the number of patients treated could be accommodated within the existing space. As the time frame increased, so it would be possible to increase capacity by new construction or reduce it by selling assets or finding alternative uses for them, at which point the cost would become variable.
  • Fixed-effect model
    • Wikipedia
      In meta-analysis: a model that calculates a pooled effect estimate using the assumption that all observed variation between studies is caused by the play of chance. Studies are assumed to be measuring the same overall effect. An alternative model is the random-effects model.
      Any statistical model assuming homogeneity of effects across the studies being combined—that is, the true effect size has a common true value for all studies. In the summary estimate the variance of each study is taken into account only.
  • Flexibility
    • Ability of the surveillance system to adapt to changing needs, incorporate new diseases, leave out less important diseases, change reporting frequency, change or modify data source.
  • Focus group
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A small group of individuals (typically gatherings of four to eight people with similar background or experience) who meet together and are asked questions by a moderator about a given topic.
      A method of data collection and a qualitative research tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.
  • Focus group discussion
    • Wikipedia
      A method of qualitative research used when information and insights will be better gained from the interaction of a group than from in-depth interviews with individuals.
      A qualitative method to obtain in-depth information on concepts and perceptions about a certain topic through spontaneous group discussion of approximately 6–12 persons, guided by a facilitator.
  • Follow-up
    • Monitoring a person's health over time after treatment. This includes keeping track of the health of people who participate in a clinical study or clinical trial for a period of time, both during the study and after the study ends.
      The observation over a period of time of study/trial participants to measure outcomes under investigation.
  • Follow-up assessment
    • Expected program outcomes are measured after the intervention has been implemented and are not compared to the results of some baseline assessment.
  • Follow-up (complete)
    • The investigators are aware of the outcome in every patient who participated in a study.
  • Follow-up studies
    • MeSH
      Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.
  • Forced-choice format
    • A format for closed-response questions used to elicit attitudes of the respondents to a certain statement. The respondent choices are limited to four: strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. This format, different from the Likert format, does not allow an undecided answer.
  • Forecasting
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The process of making statements about events whose actual outcomes (typically) have not yet been observed.
      The prediction or projection of the nature of future problems or existing conditions based upon the extrapolation or interpretation of existing scientific data or by the application of scientific methodology.
  • Forest plot
    • Wikipedia
      A graphical representation of the individual results of each study included in a meta-analysis together with the combined meta-analysis result. The plot also allows readers to see the heterogeneity among the results of the studies. The results of individual studies are shown as squares centered on each study’s point estimate. A horizontal line runs through each square to show each study’s confidence interval - usually, but not always, a 95% confidence interval. The overall estimate from the meta-analysis and its confidence interval are shown at the bottom, represented as a diamond. The centre of the diamond represents the pooled point estimate, and its horizontal tips represent the confidence interval.
  • Formative evaluation
    • Wikipedia
      Formative evaluation is a method of judging the worth of a program while the program activities are forming or happening. Formative evaluation focuses on the process. Example: collecting continuous feedback from participants in a program in order to revise the program as needed.
      Formative evaluation refers to the program planners’ use of data from process evaluation that has been conducted early in the development of an intervention, so that adjustments to the program can be made if necessary.
  • Formulary
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Lists of drugs or collections of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions for the compounding of medicinal preparations. Formularies differ from pharmacopoeias in that they are less complete, lacking full descriptions of the drugs, their formulations, analytic composition, chemical properties, etc. In hospitals, formularies list all drugs commonly stocked in the hospital pharmacy.
      Formularies [MeSH - publication type]: works that consist of lists of drugs or collections of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions for the compounding of medicinal preparations.
  • Founder effect
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.
      A phenomenon that is observed when a small subgroup of a larger population establishes itself as a separate and isolated entity. The subgroup's gene pool carries only a fraction of the genetic diversity of the parental population resulting in an increased frequency of certain diseases in the subgroup, especially those diseases known to be autosomal recessive.
  • Fraud
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Scientific fraud is deliberate deception and may take the form of fabricating data, inventing patients, or manipulating data to provide a desired answer.
      Exploitation through misrepresentation of the facts or concealment of the purposes of the exploiter.
  • Frequencies
    • A number of observations in a class of events. Frequencies can be expressed as relative frequencies, absolute frequencies, or natural frequencies.
  • Frequency distribution
    • Wikipedia
      The way in which scores within a given sample are distributed.
      A complete summary of the frequencies of the values or categories of a variable; often displayed in a two column table: the left column lists the individual values or categories, the right column indicates the number of observations in each category.
  • Frequency distribution curve
    • A graphic method for summarizing data and looking at them, in which each variable is plotted against the frequency with which it is found.
  • Frequency distribution table
    • Wikipedia
      A table that gives the frequency with which a particular value appears in the data.
  • Frequency polygon
    • A graph of a frequency distribution with values of the variable on the x-axis and the number of observations on the y-axis; data points are plotted at the midpoints of the intervals and are connected with a straight line.
  • Frequentist methods
    • Wikipedia
      Statistical methods, such as significance tests and confidence intervals, which can be interpreted in terms of the frequency of certain outcomes occurring in hypothetical repeated realizations of the same experimental situation.
  • Full analysis set
    • The set of subjects that is as close as possible to the ideal implied by the intention-to- treat principle. It is derived from the set of all randomized subjects by minimal and justified elimination of subjects.
  • Functional status
    • The capacity to engage in activities of daily living and social role activities. (Increasingly, functional status is considered to represent the concept of “health” in its behavioral manifestations.
  • Funding
    • Wikipedia
      Providing health care organizations with the financial resources required to carry out a general range of health-related activities.
  • Funnel plot
    • Wikipedia
      A graphical display of some measure of study precision plotted against effect size that can be used to investigate whether there is a link between study size and treatment effect. One possible cause of an observed association is reporting bias.
      A graphical method to display possible publication bias. It shows the relation between the effect size of study and the size of the same study, which can be measured in different ways (standard error of the effect size, its inverse, sample size, or the number of effects observed in a study). If there is no publication bias, a typical symmetric funnel shape can be observed.