Definitions

Question 1

wellbeing

Answer 1

A state of being comfortable, healthy or happy.

Question 2

Physical health

Answer 2

Relates to the efficient functioning of the body and its systems, and includes the physical capacity to perform tasks and physical fitness.

Question 3

Social health

Answer 3

Being able to interact with others and participate in the community in both an independent and cooperative way

Question 4

Mental health

Answer 4

State of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Question 5

Mortality

Answer 5

Refers to deaths in the population

Question 6

Morbidity

Answer 6

Refers to ill-health in an individual or levels of ill-health in a population

Question 7

DALYs

Answer 7

Disability adjusted life year- 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

YLL’s

Answer 8

Years of life lost- A measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death.

Question 9

YLD’s

Answer 9

Years lost due to disability- A measure of how many ‘healthy’ years of life are lost due to illness, injury or disability

Question 10

Prevalence

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Incidence

Answer 11

Refers to the number of (or rate) of new cases of a disease/condition in a population during a given period.

Question 12

Life expectancy

Answer 12

An indication of how long a person can expect to live if the current death rates remain unchanged.

Question 13

Burden of disease

Answer 13

A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries; specifically it measeures 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 14

Genetic predisposition

Answer 14

An inherited tendancy to exhibit certain traits (e.g being tall) or to develop certain conditions (e.g cancer) based on genetic make-up.

Question 15

WHO definition of health

Answer 15

A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity