Health indicator definitions (mortality etc)

Question 1

Define: life expectancy

Answer 1

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

Question 2

can life expectancy be measured from different ages (not just birth?)

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

what happens to life expectancy as age increases and why?

Answer 3

it also increases, as it takes people who have died before that certain age out of the equation.

Question 4

Advantage of life expectancies?

Answer 4

Provides useful comparision between different countries and population groups, helping govs…

Question 5

disadvantage of life expectancy?

Answer 5

Doesn’t provide info on quality of life, or specific health issues facing people

Question 6

Define: HALE

Answer 6

a measure of burden of disease, based on life expectancy at birth, but including an adjustment for time spent in poor health. 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.

Question 7

Define: mortality

Answer 7

number of deaths in the population caused by a particular disease, illness or other environmental factor.

Question 8

Define: mortality rate

Answer 8

): measure of the proportion of a population who die in a one year period (usually per 100,000)

Question 9

Define: U5MR

Answer 9

the number of deaths of children under five years of age per 1000 live births.

Question 10

Define: maternal mortality rate

Answer 10

the number of deaths of women who are either pregnant, or are within the first 42 days after giving birth or having a termination, expressed per 100,000 live births.

Question 11

Define: morbidity

Answer 11

: ill health in an individual and the levels of ill health in a population or group

Question 12

what do morbidity rates measure?

Answer 12

incidence and prevalence

Question 13

Define: incidence

Answer 13

number or rate of new cases of disease during a specified time (usually 12 months)

Question 14

Define: prevalence

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Define: burden of disease

Answer 15

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. It is measured by DALY’s./

Question 16

how is BOD measured?

Answer 16

disability adjusted life years

Question 17

Define: disability adjusted life year

Answer 17

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

Question 18

How are DALY’s calculated?

Answer 18

by adding YLL (years of life lost due to premature death) and YLD (years lost due to disability, illness or injury).

Question 19

How is YLD calculated?

Answer 19

complex formula which takes into account the severity/impact upon life of a condition (eg. alzheimers higher than asthma)