OnlineMedEd: Epidemiology and Stats - "Prevention"

Question 1

What is primary prevention?

Answer 1

Prevention of developing risk factors for a disease, preventing the exposures

Example: preventing someone from developing HTN with, say, diet and exercise and avoidance of smoking.

Vaccinations are also primary prevention.

Question 2

What is secondary prevention?

Answer 2

Preventing the disease that a person has from getting worse

Example: a person has HTN but you give them antihypertensives and recommend diet and exercise so that they don’t get worse and then develop an MI.

Screening (say, A1c or BP readings) is a part of secondary prevention.

Question 3

What is tertiary prevention?

Answer 3

Trying to prevent one disease complication from leading to others

Example: a person had HTN, then had an MI, and now you’re treating their post-MI state so that they don’t develop CHF.