Public health Flashcards
Distinguish between prevalence and incidence
Prevalence measures all current cases (new and pre-existing) of a disease at a particular point in time in a specific population; it is a measurement of disease burden.
–>If there are 100 cases of chlamydia in a population of 10,000 people on January 1, the prevalence is 1%
Incidence measures the number of new cases of a disease in a specific population at a specific point in time; it is a measurement of disease risk.
–>If there are 20 new cases of chlamydia in the same population of 10,000 people over the course of a year, the incidence rate is 0.2% per year.
Describe the epidemiology of STI’s in ireland
20-24 year olds had highest incidence rates in 2018.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes were the top 3 with highest incidence in 2019.
Chlamydia 16% increase
Gonorrhea 17% increase
Herpes 6% increase.
Males vs Females in terms of total number of cases was 57% vs 43%.
Gonorrhea much higher in males (84% of cases)
LGV and early syphillis saw the high % increase change from 2018 but the number of cases overall were much lower than chlamdyia, gonorrhea and herpes.
Define upstream and downstream factors
Upstream interventions refer to legislative, policy-driven, and systemic efforts aimed at addressing the root causes or initial factors that contribute to a downstream problem. These interventions focus on prevention and aim to create environments that reduce the risk of problems developing in the first place.
Downstream interventions are those that deal with managing and mitigating active problems that have already occurred. These interventions focus on treatment, management, and optimization of care to alleviate the impact of the problem and prevent further complications.
4 terms to define ethnicity
Multi-faceted , contextual, fluid, hybrid
Multi-faceted: cultural practices, language, religion, ancestral ties.
Contextual: influenced by the social, cultural and historical context in which it exists.
Fluid: can change over time due to interactions with different cultures, migration or changes in social attitudes.
Hybrid: mixed ethnic backgrounds due to intermarriage, migration,
2 upstream and 2 downstream interventions to curb STI’s
Upstream
(i) Comprehensive sexual health education programmes, particularly in schools.
(ii) Public health awareness campaigns.
Downstream
(i) Increasing access to free condoms
(ii) Increasing access to free or low-cost STI screening services and ensuring timely treatment and follow up following an STI diagnosis.
Describe what is meant by primordial disease prevention
Primordial interventions can be described as upstream interventions which aim to prevent the development of risk factors for a disease within a population. It generally takes a population-wide approach to better improve health in general and prevent the population from succumbing to risk factors. This would include interventions which address economic, social and environmental factors which may pose as a risk or contribute to the development of a disease process.
Describe what is meant by primary prevention
Primary prevention can be described as optimising the health of a population who have already been exposed to a risk factor/causative factor in order to prevent the development of the disease.
Achieved through through communal efforts to improve nutritional status, provide immunisations and eliminating environmental risks.
It therefore aims to reduce the incidence of disease.
Describe secondary prevention of disease
Secondary prevention targets those with established early stages of disease with the aim to optimise early disease management to limit the progression of disease. This is done through providing access to screening services and early treatment.
It therefore aims to reduce the prevalence of a disease by shortening its duration.
Example would be screening for HTN in high risk patients and offering prompt management.
Tertiary prevention
Tertiary prevention targets those with late stages of disease with the aim to prevent complications, minimise suffering and optimise quality of life. Achieved through rehabilitation.
what is WHO HEARTS technical package and what is its purpose
WHO HEARTS technical package are a set of effective and practical interventions delivered from primary care, community-based settings aimed to optimise management of risk factors for CVD. It involves simple yet robust equipment and management with standard, core medicines.
H- Healthy life style counselling
E- Evidence based treatment protocols
A- Access to essential medicines and technology
R- Risk based management
T- Team care and task sharing
S- Systems for monitoring.
3 WHO packages for CVD management
HEARTS
MPOWER
SHAKE
What is WHO MPOWER
Aimed at reducing tobacco use
M- Monitoring tobacco use and implementing prevention policies
P- Protecting people from tobacco smoking
O- Offering help to quit smoking
W- Warning about the dangers of smoking
E- Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
R- Raising tobacco taxes.
Outline SHAKE package
Aimed at reducing salt intake
S- Surveillance, measure and monitor salt intake
H- Harness the industry; promote reduction of salt content in foods
A- Adopt standards for labelling and marketing
K- Knowledge; educate and communicate on the harms of high salt intake
E- Environment: Support settings to promote healthy eating.
list 4 healthy ireland initiatives aimed to prevent and control non-communicable diseases in ireland
- “Healthy weight for ireland”-Obesity policy and action plan
- Tobacco-free ireland; following WHO MPOWER recommendations
- Public health alcohol act
- Get ireland walking
- SunSmart code
what are the 4 most common non-communicable diseases in ireland
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cancer (skin/lung)
- Diabetes
- Chronic respiratory disease
