MSD 1,2 Flashcards
Public health
the science & art of preventing disease, prolonging life, & promoting health through the organized efforts & informed choices of society, organizations, public & private communities, and individuals.
Example: Public health campaigns promoting vaccination programs.
Prevention
measures applied even in the absence of a disease to prevent its occurrence or its complications.
Example: Regular exercise as a preventive measure for heart disease.
Control
various measures that prevent and contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Example: Quarantine measures during a disease outbreak.
Primary prevention
intervening before health effects occur, through measures such as vaccinations or altering risky behaviors and banning substances known to be associated with a disease or health condition.
Example: Childhood immunization programs.
Secondary prevention
screening to identify diseases in the earliest stages, before the onset of signs & symptoms, through measures such as mammography & regular BP testing.
Example: Routine cancer screenings.
Tertiary prevention
managing disease post diagnosis to slow or stop disease progression through measures such as chemotherapy, rehabilitation after stroke, & screening for complications.
Example: Cardiac rehabilitation programs.
Population-based strategy
interventions that aim to reduce everyone’s risk across society.
Example: National anti-smoking campaigns.
High-risk strategy
interventions to identify individuals at high risk of disease & educate them about their risk & supporting them to take steps to reduce it.
Example: Genetic counseling for hereditary diseases.
Rose theorem
exposure of a large number of people at a smaller risk may cause far more cases than exposure of a small number of people to a higher risk.
Example: Population-wide vaccination programs.
Prevention paradox
a preventive measure that brings large benefits to the community offers little to each participating individual.
Example: Community-wide water fluoridation.
Isolation
separation of persons who have specific infectious disease from those who are healthy & restriction of their movement to stop the spread of that disease.
Example: Isolating individuals with tuberculosis.
Quarantine
separation & restriction of movement of persons or animals who, while not yet ill, have been exposed to an infectious agent.
Example: Quarantine measures for travelers during a pandemic.
Incubation
the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism & when signs & symptoms 1st appear.
Example: Incubation period of the common cold virus.
Elimination
reduction of case transmission to a predetermined very low level OR disappearance of clinical forms of the disease while the agent may be present.
Example: Elimination of smallpox through vaccination programs.
Efficacy
the extent to which an intervention produces a benefit under ideal conditions ‘clinical trial’.
Example: Efficacy of a new drug in controlled laboratory settings.
Effectiveness
the extent to which an intervention produces a benefit when used in the community.
Example: Effectiveness of a public health campaign in reducing smoking rates.
Efficiency
the relationship of the cost (money, resources, & time) to the benefit an intervention produces.
Example: Efficiency of a preventive health program in reducing hospital admissions.
Epidemiology triad
disease is a result of forces w/in a dynamic system consisting of infectious agent, host, environment.
Example: Analysis of the epidemiology triad in studying disease outbreaks.
Preventive medicine
practice of promoting health care to improve patient well-being & ultimately prevent disease, disability, and death.
Example: Preventive medicine programs in community health centers.
Counseling
educating patients about consequences of personal health behavior & working in a collaborative manner on strategies for identifying & managing potential risk factors.
Example: Counseling patients on smoking cessation strategies.
Risk assessment in clinical setting
collection of info about risk factors during the history, physical, and laboratory examination to determine which preventive services are indicated & which deserve priority.
Example: Conducting risk assessments for cardiovascular diseases in primary care settings.
