1 + 2 Flashcards
(24 cards)
What does prevalence mean?
The number of people with a disease in a population
What is an incidence rate?
The number of new cases of a disease per thousand people per year (or person-years)
How is an incidence rate ratio calculated?
Rate B (exposed) / Rate A (unexposed)
Rate B = no. of new cases / population x no. years
Same formula for Rate A
What can an IRR be used to find out?
The aetiology of a disease
The effects of two treatments
What is a confounding factor?
Something that is associated with both the outcome and the exposure of interest, but is not on the causal pathway between outcome and exposure
What is a census?
The simultaneous recording of demographic data by the government at a particular time pertaining to all the persons who live in a particular territory.
What can a census be used to find out?
- The rates of different things within populations
- Population structure and therefore service needs
- Population characteristics eg measures of deprivation such as unemployment, overcrowding, lone pensioners, single parents and lack of basic amenities
What is the crude birth rate?
The number of live births per thousand population
What is the general fertility rate?
Number of live births per thousand females aged 15-44
What is the total period fertility rate?
The average number of children that would be born to a hypothetical woman in her life time.
How is the total period fertility rate calculated?
The sum of all the current age-specific fertility rates.
What is a use of the crude birth rate?
Describes the impact of births on population size
What is the use of a general fertility rate?
Can compare fertility of fertile female populations.
What is the use of total period fertility rate?
Compare fertility of fertile females without being influenced by age group structure
What is fecundity and what increases and decreases it?
The physical ability to reproduce
Decreased by sterilisation and hysterectomies.
What is fertility and what increases it or decreases it?
The realisation of the potential to reproduce
Increased by sexual activity and a better economic climate
Decreased by contraception and abortion
What is a crude death rate?
The number of deaths per thousand in a population.
What is the age-specific death rate?
The number of deaths per thousand people within a given age group
What is a standardised mortality ratio?
Compares observed number of deaths with expected number of deaths if age-sex distribution of populations were identical.
How would you interpret an SMR?
100 means there is no increased risk
>100 means there is a greater risk in the study population
Why measure birth rates?
So that general and maternity services can be provided
Why record mortality data?
Planning
Public health monitoring
Research
Healthcare needed
Define morbidity
Any departure, subjective or objective, from a state of physiological or psychological well-being.
Why have cancer registration?
Incidence, prevalence and survival with time
Effectiveness of cancer prevention and screening
Evaluate quality and outcomes of cancer care
Evaluate environmental and social factors on cancer risk
Support genetic counselling services
