Epidemiology & social causation of disease

Question 1

What is epidemiology?

Answer 1

The study of the frequency, distribution and determinants of disease in populations

Question 2

What is a cause?

Answer 2

An event, condition or characteristic that preceded the event/outcome without which the disease/outcome would not have occurred at all

Question 3

What is a risk factor?

Answer 3

An attribute or exposure that is associated with an increased probability of a specified outcome

Question 4

In epidemiology how are risk factors prevented?

Answer 4

Understanding the relationship between exposure to risk factor and disease
Knowledge of distribution of exposure to risk factors in the population

Question 5

In public health, how are risk factors prevented?

Answer 5

Evidence on efficacy of intervention to remove or reduce risk factor
Understanding political, economic, psychological and social issues involved in implementing intervention

Question 6

What are the sources of health intervention?

Answer 6

Mortality
Morbidity
Quality of life

Question 7

In what ways is mortality a source of health intervention?

Answer 7

Death certificates

Annual statistical returns

Question 8

In what ways is morbidity a source of health intervention?

Answer 8

Disease registrations
GP surveys
Hospital admissions data

Question 9

What are the different mortality rates?

Answer 9

Crude death rate
Age/sex specific mortality rates
Cause-specific mortality rate

Question 10

What is the crude death rate?

Answer 10

The mortality rate for the whole population

Question 11

What is the purpose of standardised mortality rates?

Answer 11

To permit comparison of mortality between populations with different age profiles

Question 12

What is the Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR)?

Answer 12

A ratio that compares the expected rate with the observed rate

Question 13

What are mortality rates a poor measure of?

Answer 13

Frequency of disease in a population

Question 14

What are used to describe the frequency of disease in a population?

Answer 14

Incidence and prevalence rates

Question 15

What is incidence?

Answer 15

The ratio of the number of new cases of a disease occurring in a population during a specific period of time, and the number of persons exposed to the risk of developing the disease during that period of time

Question 16

What is prevalence?

Answer 16

The ratio of the number of cases of a disease present in a population at a specific point in time, and the number of persons at risk of having the disease at that point in time

Question 17

What is health information data used for?

Answer 17

Assessing need for health care
Planning medical/nursing services
Health policy
Prediction of outbreaks
Audit of performance

Question 18

What is the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)?

Answer 18

Provides a relative measure of deprivation