SMLE Community Medicine MCQs: Practice Questions With Explanations

Sample SMLE MCQs from Community Medicine — an 87-question subject in HighYield's SMLE bank without a dedicated practice post yet — covering study design, bias and outbreak investigation.

Community Medicine is an 87-question subject in HighYield's SMLE question bank that doesn't yet have a dedicated practice post. Below is a sample set of Community Medicine MCQs covering study design, bias and outbreak investigation.

Study Design

1. A study that identifies a group with and without a disease and looks backward for prior exposure is a:

A) Cohort study
B) Case-control study ✅
C) Randomised controlled trial
D) Ecological study

2. The number needed to treat (NNT) is best described as:

A) The number of patients who must be treated to cause one adverse event
B) The number of patients who must be treated to prevent one additional bad outcome ✅
C) The percentage reduction in relative risk
D) The total sample size required for a trial

3. A study draws conclusions about individuals based on data measured at the population level. This risks:

A) Recall bias
B) Ecological fallacy ✅
C) Selection bias
D) Lead-time bias

Bias & Confounding

4. Patients with a poorer prognosis are systematically more likely to drop out of a study before follow-up ends. This is:

A) Attrition (loss-to-follow-up) bias ✅
B) Recall bias
C) Confounding
D) Effect modification

5. Earlier detection of disease through screening appears to prolong survival, even without any real treatment benefit, due to:

A) Length-time bias
B) Lead-time bias ✅
C) Recall bias
D) Berkson's bias

Screening & Prevention

6. Rehabilitation to limit disability after a stroke has already occurred is an example of:

A) Primary prevention
B) Secondary prevention
C) Tertiary prevention ✅
D) Primordial prevention

7. A screening test with high sensitivity is most useful for:

A) Confirming a diagnosis
B) Ruling a disease out when negative ✅
C) Ruling a disease in when positive
D) Estimating prevalence directly

Outbreak Investigation

8. The first step in investigating a suspected disease outbreak is to:

A) Implement control measures immediately
B) Confirm the diagnosis and verify that a true outbreak exists ✅
C) Notify the media
D) Calculate the attack rate

9. The attack rate in an outbreak investigation is calculated as:

A) Total deaths divided by total cases
B) New cases divided by the population at risk during the outbreak period ✅
C) Total cases divided by total population, regardless of time period
D) Number exposed divided by number unexposed

Prepare with HighYield

HighYield's SMLE question bank covers Community Medicine alongside Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, General Surgery and every other domain tested on the exam, with every question explained. For the full breakdown of eligibility, syllabus weighting and scoring, see our SMLE Exam Full Guide.