Module 3: Health in Populations

Question 1

What is epidemiology

Answer 1

The study of the occurrence and distribution of health related events, states or processes in specified populations

Question 2

What is population health

Answer 2

The health outcomes of a group of individuals including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.

Question 3

What is the social gradient of health

Answer 3

The relationship between deprivation and poor health (linear). (wealth vs health!)

Question 4

What defines your socioeconomic status

Answer 4

Often income, occupation, or highest level of education

Question 5

What is NZDep

Answer 5

Area based measure of deprivation

Question 6

What does the demographic transition theory explain

Answer 6

Changes in population death and birth rates over time, and hence change in populations over time

Question 7

What does the epidemiological transition theory explain

Answer 7

Changes in population disease patterns over time: communicable and non communicable diseases

Question 8

When would age standardising be necessary

Answer 8

When age structures differ between populations and disease risk varies by age

Question 9

What part of the public health model is module 3 concerned with

Answer 9

Part 1: defining and measuring the problem

Question 10

What is descriptive epidemiology

Answer 10

Distribution

Question 11

What is analytical epidemiology

Answer 11

Determinants

Question 12

What is population health

Answer 12

The health outcomes of a group of individuals including the distribution of such outcomes within the group

Question 13

Alongside SES, what exterior factor also tends to affect health in NZ

Answer 13

Ethnicity (Māori often worse health)

Question 14

How many people in a block in NZDep

Answer 14

100-200

Question 15

What measures are included in NZDep

Answer 15

Income, education/qualification, employment, living conditions, single parent family, internet access, home owning, support, living space/conditions (assessed through census)

Question 16

How is the population spread amongst the deciles

Answer 16

Evenly, even though wealth isn’t evenly spread (~10% of population in each decile)

Question 17

What are the strengths of NZDep

Answer 17

Accessible (look up any address), used for everyone, standard protocol for assessing SES, multiple factors considered

Question 18

What are the limitations of NZDep

Answer 18

Based on population rather than specific to individual, measure of relative poverty/deprivation, algorithm doesn’t include everything related to poverty

Question 19

What is absolute poverty

Answer 19

Income level below which a minimum nutritionally adequate diet plus essential non-food requirements is not affordable. The amount of income a person, family or group needs to purchase an absolute amount of the basic necessities of life

Question 20

What is relative poverty

Answer 20

(NZDep) The amount of income a person, family or group needs to purchase a relative amount of basic necessities of life. These basic necessities are identified relative to each society and economy.

Question 21

What are the social determinants of health

Answer 21

The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life

Question 22

What is the SDH framework

Answer 22

Illustrates intersecting driving forces behind health. Many factors outside the scope of healthcare services. Layered model, increasing specificity to individual

Question 23

What are the layers of the SDH framework

Answer 23

Age, sex, hereditary factors (things you can’t change), individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and working conditions, general socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions

Question 24

What is the pattern of historical diseases

Answer 24

Communicable diseases decreased, non communicable diseases increased

Question 25

What is the double burden faced by developing countries

Answer 25

Still face large burden of communicable diseases, while also struggling with non communicable diseases

Question 26

Why have communicable diseases become less common

Answer 26

Better sanitation, vaccination, more accessible clean water, medical treatment, change in diet, more sedentary lifestyles

Question 27

How is the burden of disease measured

Answer 27

The gap between a population's current health status and ideal health status

Question 28

What is mortality

Answer 28

Death due to a disease

Question 29

What is morbidity

Answer 29

Suffering of a disease

Question 30

What is YLL

Answer 30

Years of life lost: gap between age of death and life expectancy. Measure of premature death burden

Question 31

What is YLD

Answer 31

Years lived with a disability: length of time spent in ill health before death (measure of non fatal health loss)

Question 32

What is DALY

Answer 32

Disability adjusted life years: combines fatal and non fatal health loss (YLL + YLD). 1 DALY = 1 year of life in good health lost

Question 33

What is the demographic transition theory

Answer 33

1. Death rate decreases (increased population) 2. Birth rate decreases (as people live longer don't need to have so many kids) 3. Population size stabilises

Question 34

What are the problems with an ageing population

Answer 34

Need more support, strain on healthcare system, can't work (high dependency ratio)

Question 35

What is the change in age structure over time

Answer 35

Triangle to rectangle age distribution: large birth rate, then smaller birth rate

Question 36

What is the compression of morbidity about

Answer 36

Aiming to improve life quality over length

Question 37

How is prevalence measured

Answer 37

Number of people with condition at a specific time / total number of people in the population at that time

Question 38

What are the limitations of prevalence as a measure of occurrence

Answer 38

Influenced by duration, hard to assess disease development

Question 39

What is incidence

Answer 39

The occurrence of new cases of an outcome in a population during a specific period of follow up

Question 40

How is incidence proportion calculated

Answer 40

Number of people who develop condition / number of at risk people in population at the beginning

Question 41

What are the requirements for a person being at risk

Answer 41

Can develop outcome, don't already have outcome

Question 42

What are the limitations of using incidence as a measure of occurrence

Answer 42

Assumes closed population, dependent on time period (longer period = higher incidence)

Question 43

How is incidence rate calculated

Answer 43

Number of people who develop condition / total number of person years at risk within population

Question 44

What are the limitations of using incidence rate as a measure of occurrence

Answer 44

Difficult to calculate (person time)

Question 45

How are prevalence and incidence related

Answer 45

Prevalence = ~incidence * average disease duration