Chapter 2

Question 1

Health Status

Answer 1

An individual’s or a population’s overall level of health, taking into account various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk factors.

Question 2

Health Indicators

Answer 2

Standard Statistics that are used to measure and compare health status (e.g. life expectancy, morbidity and mortality rates)

Question 3

Incidence

Answer 3

The number of new cases of a condition during a given period of time, usually 12 months.

Question 4

Prevalence

Answer 4

The total number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.

Question 5

Morbidity

Answer 5

Refers to ill-health in an individual and the levels of ill-health in a population or group.

Question 6

Burden of Disease

Answer 6

A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries, specifically it measures the gap between current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and disability. Burden of disease is measured in a unit called the DALY.

Question 7

Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS)

Answer 7

A measure of burden of disease, one DALY equals one year of healthy life lost due to premature death and time lived with illness, disease or injury.

Question 8

years of life lost (YLL)

Answer 8

a measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death

Question 9

years lost due to disability (YLD)

Answer 9

a measure of how many healthy years of life are lost due to illness, injury or disability

Question 10

Life expectancy

Answer 10

An indication of how long a person can expect live, it is the number of years of life remaining to a person at a particular age if death rates do not change.

Question 11

Health Adjusted Life Expectancy
(HALE)

Answer 11

It is the number of years in full health that a person can expect to live, based on current rates of ill health and mortality. It is an indicator of quantity and quality of life.

Question 12

Mortality

Answer 12

Refers to death, often at a population level.

Question 13

Maternal mortality

Answer 13

Death of a mother during pregnancy, childbirth or within six weeks of delivery.

Question 14

Maternal mortality ratio

Answer 14

The number of mothers who die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth per 100 000 live births.

Question 15

Infant mortality

Answer 15

The death of a child between birth and their first birthday.

Question 16

Infant mortality rate

Answer 16

The rate of deaths of infants between birth and their first birthday, usually expressed per 1000 live births.

Question 17

Under 5 mortality

Answer 17

The death of a child under 5 years of age.

Question 18

Under 5 mortality rate

Answer 18

The rate of deaths occurring in children under 5 years of age per 1000 live births.

Question 19

Self-assessed health status

Answer 19

A measure based on a person’s own opinion about how they feel about their health and wellbeing, their state of mind and their life in general. It is commonly sourced from population surveys.