HSC Core 1 Flashcards
Role of Epidemiology
The study of disease and illness in a given population over a period of time
Epidemiological data
Identifies prevalence and incidence of disease and illness as well as patterns and measures which may reduce the occurrence of the disease. Enables decisions about health issues to be made based off the data. Health promotion and expenditure is determined by data collected in relation to the current and future health needs of the population
Prevalence of disease
The number or portion of people who are living with the disease in a population at a given point in time
Incidence
The number or proportion of NEW cases arising in a particular population with a given point in time (usually 1 year)
Mortality
The number of people within a population which have died in a given year
Epidemiology Indicators
Life expectancy - The average number of years a person is expected to live
Mortality - The number of people within a population which have died in a given year
Infant mortality - The death rate for those under 1 year age within a given population
Morbidity - The measure of disease or disability rates within a given population
What can epidemiology tell us?
Health status of a population
Prevalence and incidence of disease
Treatments provided, hospital usage
Trends in disease
Death, birth, illness and injury rates
Expenditure for consumers and government
Who uses the epidemiological data?
Government
Health department officials
Researchers
Health or medical practitioners
Limitations of epidemiology
Reasons why people take risks
Impact of the illness on quality of life
Why inequities exist
Variations among sub-populations
Data is incomplete or nonexistent
Current trends in Australia’s health
Males:
1. Coronary Heart disease
2. Dementia including alzheimers disease
3. Lung Cancer
4. Cerebrovascular disease
5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Females:
1. Dementia including alzheimers
2. Coronary heart disease
3. Cerebrovascular disease
4. Lung Cancer
5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Identifying priority health areas
Social justice principles
Potential for prevention and early intervention
Priority population groups
Prevalence of a condition
Cost to the individual and community
Social justice principles
Principles which promote equity diversity and supportive environments
MEDICARE
Medicare safety net:
A pre determined amount of money set by the Australian government for which medical expenses are subsidised once an individual or family have incurred the medical costs ($560.40)
Medicare: public health care for all Australians is provided at no or little cost to the individual under the Medicare
Pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS):
Prescription treatments considered to be life saving, or for chronic illnesses are subsidised under the PBS
Priority population groups
- groups in Australian society which experience health inequities and difficulties
First Nations Australians
People who are socioeconomically disadvantaged
People living in rural and remote areas
People born overseas
The elderly
People with disabilities
The Royal Flying Doctor Service ✈️
Developed to increase the health outcomes for people living in rural and remote areas and communities of First Nations Australians. The service aims to increase access to services, facilities, and health education through:
- aeromedical health services, remote community health clinics
- doctor and medical practitioner incentive program to encourage medical professionals to work in remote communities
- developing culturally diverse health services
- increasing funding for First Nations Australian’s health
Burden of disease
An estimated impact of disease and injury on an individual or community. This is determined by the effect of death or disability
First Nations peoples populations experience 2.3 times more disease burden than non First Nations peoples populations
Potential for prevention and early intervention
When identifying priority health issues it’s essential to identify issues which are more likely to be preventable
Most health issues in Australia are caused by modifiable risk factors
Early intervention is possible through modification of a risk, meaning the burden of the disease can be reduced
Early intervention strategies enable diseases to be identified before they become an increasing burden on a population. E.G. The implementation of screening services such as cancer screening, have decreased the mortality rates due to early detection and prevention.
Modifiable risk factors
Smoking
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Over weight
Diabetes
Stress
Smoking
Sedentary lifestyle
Costs to the individual and community
When identifying priority health issues it is essential to identify the cost of the disease, illness or injury to the individual and community. These costs can either be direct such as financial burden or indirect costs like an individuals mental health as a result of cancer diagnosis.
Direct Cost = monetary costs of diagnosing and treating a patient
Indirect cost = difficult to measure costs such as a patients mental health and other effects stemming from illness e.g. loss of wages when a person is unable to work
Individual and community costs
Individual costs
- cost of medica, treatment
- loss of income
- reduction in quality of life
- social and emotional impact
- emotional trauma due to loss
- lifestyle changes
Community Costs
- funding for medical treatment
- co-morbidities
- economic loss due to leave from work
- loss of skilful community members
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
ATSI peoples experience health inequities in all areas of health. They have the largest health gap of all population groups in Australia, because they experience such inequities, they are identified as a “priority population group”
Life expectancy - Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander life expectancy at birth for the period 2020-2022 was 71.9 years for males and 75.6 for females
Infant mortality - The death rate for indigenous infants was 1.9 times the rate of non- indigenous infants (5.9 and 3.0 per 1,000 lives births, respectively
Mortality - the 3 leading causes of death for indigenous Australians were coronary heart disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, whereas for non-indigenous Australians they were coronary heart disease, dementia including alzheimers and cerebrovascular disease (figure 5)
Morbidity - In burden of disease among aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples was 2.3 times more than non-indigenous Australians
The leading 5 disease groups:
Mental and substance use disorders (anxiety, depression and drug use)
Injuries (falls, road traffic injuries, suicide
CVD diseases - coronary heart disease, rheumatic disease
Cancer and other neoplasms (lung cancer and breast cancer and musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain and problems and osteoarthritis
Nature and extent of health inequities
Nature = the basic features of something or the characteristics of something
Extent = the amount of cases or inequities which exist or have spread within the population group
Socioeconomic, sociocultural and environmental determinants
Sociocultural determinants
Factors contributing to health from family, peers, religion, culture and media
Socioeconomic determinants
Factors contributing to health from education, employment and income
Environmental determinants
Factors contributing to geographical location, access to health services and technology
Roles of individuals, communities and governments
Individuals: empowerment, increase protective behaviours
Communities: involvement in design and implementation of health initiatives, aboriginal medical services
Governments: close the gap initiative, indigenous chronic disease package
People in rural and remote areas
People living in rural and remote areas in Australia experience more health inequities than people living in regional and metropolitan areas.
In Australia, about 28% of our population are living in rural and remote areas. Environmental location is identified as a determinant of health, highlighting that people who live in rural and remote areas are more likely to experience poorer health than those not living in rural areas.
- they are isolated and have limited access to health care and facilities
Nature and extent of health inequities
Rural and remote
When compared with people living in regional and major cities, individuals experience:
- higher rates of chronic illnesses such as CVD, diabetes, cancer
- higher rates of injuries and road accidents
- higher rate of liver diseases
- higher rates of suicide
Indicators of poor health include increased rates of: obesity, smoking, inactivity, alcohol consumption
Socioeconomic, Sociocultural and environmental determinants
Sociocultural - greater First Nations Australians population, family behaviours e.g. smoking, alcohol consumption, lower activity rates and family history of obesity
Socioeconomic - decreased access to education and employment, limited access to goods and services, exposure to ‘heavy labour’ employment e.g. mining, machinery and farms, strong sense of community
Environmental - decreased access of health professionals, decreased access to health facilities and screening, increased need for transportation for health treatment, decreased health education, low health literacy leads to lack in access to services
Roles of individuals, communities and governments in rural, remote
Individuals
Empowerment
Increase protective behaviours
Maintaining enrolment in educational programs
Communities
Health services tailored to the community multipurpose centres
Community support groups
Community fundraisers
Governments
Royal flying doctor service
Rural and remote general practice program