chapter 3 (social epidemiology)

Question 1

social epidemiology

Answer 1

the attempt to determine the causes of health differences between sub-populations of people.

Question 2

clinical epidemiology

Answer 2

the attempt to make predictions about individual patients based on evidence derived from population-based studies such as clinical trials of treatments.

Question 3

prospective cohort study

Answer 3

group of individuals with one or more similar characteristics are recruited at one point in time then followed over time with respect to one or more outcomes of interest in order to determine which factors contribute to those outcomes. longitudinal studies. ex: whitehall I and II studies.

Question 4

gradient in health

Answer 4

near universal finding that health and life expectancy improve and disease incidence falls as income, education level, quality of job, or quality of neighbourhood rise. affluence results in better health.

Question 5

health utilities index (hui)

Answer 5

a technique for measuring and comparing health-related quality of life through aggregating the results of questionnaires evaluating such dimensions of life as pain, mobility, and emotional state.

Question 6

materialist hypothesis

Answer 6

the contention that most differences in health between groups can be explained by differences in capabilities, opportunities, and access to resources.

Question 7

neo-materialist hypothesis

Answer 7

contention that public services, public amenities, public policies, and social contexts have important distributive effects on health-relevant resources available to individuals. these things affect behaviours that also affect health outcomes.

Question 8

psychosocial hypothesis

Answer 8

joint contentions that:
a) psychological states arise in interaction with social environments.
b) those psychological states have biological implications.
(ex: work environment > emotional stress > high cortisol > damage to arterial lining).