Health Risk Factors

Question 1

What is the purpose of preventive health?

Answer 1

To keep people well, healthy, and avoid disease, injury and injury.

Question 2

What are the levels of prevention?

Answer 2

• Primordial - SDoH
• Primary - prevent disease occurring
• Secondary - early detection, best practice management
• Tertiary - reduce harms in people with disease, reduce functional impairment
• Quaternary - reduce harms from medical intervention

Question 3

What are examples of primordial prevention?

Answer 3

Acting on SDoH
* Social and community networks
* Education, income, employment, occupation
* Environmental - built, natural

Question 4

What are examples of primary prevention?

Answer 4

Preventing disease occurring:

• Legislation, enforcement
• Education (health literacy)
• Breastfeeding
• Immunisation
• Behaviours - smoking, alcohol, drugs, physical activity, nutrition

Question 5

What are examples of secondary prevention?

Answer 5

• Screening
• Preventive care
• Routine check-ups e.g. AHC 715
• Best practice management

Question 6

What are examples of tertiary prevention?

Answer 6

• Chronic disease management
• Rehab
• Pain management
• Support groups
• Palliative care

Question 7

What are examples of quaternary prevention?

Answer 7

• Reduce harms of medical intervention

Question 8

What population groups/communities can prevention be appleid to?

Answer 8

• Universal (entire population)
• Selective - high risk groups e.g. breast cancer screening ages 50-74
• Indicative - specific higher risk individuals e.g. PWID

Question 9

At what points over the life course should preventive health be applied?

Answer 9

Should be across the life course - prenatal, infant, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, older age

Question 10

What are some preventive health resources / frameworks?

Answer 10

• National Preventive Health Strategy (2021-30)
• Healthy Tasmania 5-Year Strategic Plan (2022-26)
• Tasmanian 20-year Preventive Health Strategy (in development)

Question 11

What are the priority areas of the Healthy Tas 5-year Strategic Plan?

Answer 11

8 priorities

• Priority groups
• Health literacy
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Active living
• Eating well
• Smoke-free communities
• Reduce alcohol harm
• Climate change and health

Question 12

What is a key approach of the NPHS 2021-30?

Answer 12

• Stronger, more effective prevention
• Whole of government approach

Question 13

What are the 7 focus areas of the NPHS 2021-30?

Answer 13

• Tobacco/nicotine
• Alcohol / other drugs
• Healthy diets
• Physical activity
• Mental health
• Cancer screening / prevention
• Immunisation

Question 14

What is a risk factor?

Answer 14

An attribute, characteristic or exposure that is associated with the development of a disease or condition

Question 15

What are the categories of risk factors?

Answer 15

• Modifiable - behavioural, biomedical
• Non-modifiable - age, gender, constitutional factors, genetics

Question 16

What are examples of behavioural risk factors?

Answer 16

• Smoking
• Alcohol
• Drug use
• Physical inactivity
• Child neglect / abuse
• Intimate partner violence
• Unsafe sex

Question 17

What are examples of biomedical risk factors?

Answer 17

• HTN
• Hyperglycaemia
• Hypercholesterolaemia
• Overweight / obesity
• Iron deficiecy
• Low BMD
• Low birth weight
• Short gestation

Question 18

What are examples of environmental risk factors?

Answer 18

• UV (sun exposure)
• Particulate matter (air pollution)
• Temperature
• Water pollution
• Noise pollution
• Occupational exposures
• Environmental tobacco exposure

Question 19

What is the attributable burden?

Answer 19

The proportion of a disease burden that can be prevented if the risk factor was avoided or reduced to lowest possible level