Public health + critical numbers definitions

Question 1

Define health

Answer 1

The state of complete physical, mental + social well-being, not merely the absence of disease

Question 2

Define demography

Answer 2

Anatomy of a population

Question 3

Define sociology

Answer 3

Physiology of a population

Question 4

Define epidemiology

Answer 4

Pathology of a population

Question 5

Define incidence

Answer 5

How many new cases in a year

Question 6

Define prevalence

Answer 6

The proportion of the population affected by a disease at a particular point in time

Question 7

Define burden of a disease

Answer 7

How it affects your life

Question 8

Define primary prevention

Answer 8

An intervention implemented before there is evidence of a disease-aims to reduce causative risk factors

Question 9

Define secondary prevention

Answer 9

An intervention implemented after a disease has begun, but before it is symptomatic-aim is early identification

Question 10

Define tertiary prevention

Answer 10

An intervention implemented after a disease is established-aims to prevent sequelae (bad things getting worse)

Question 11

Define the prevention paradox

Answer 11

The seemingly contradictory situation where more cases of a disease come from a population at low/moderate risk and only a minority from the high risk population

Question 12

Define absolute risk

Answer 12

The probability (risk) of an developing a disease within a stated period of time

Question 13

Define relative risk

Answer 13

The probability (risk) of developing a disease relative to exposure

Question 14

Define opportunity cost

Answer 14

The cost of any decision measured in terms of the next best alternative that had to be sacrificed in the making of the decision e.g. balancing time + money

Question 15

Define QALYs

Answer 15

Quality adjusted life years-a calculation that combines length of life + quality of life

Question 16

Define the inverse care law

Answer 16

The availability of good medical care varies inversely with the need of the population served

Question 17

Define lead-time bias

Answer 17

Early diagnosis falsely makes it seem like people are surviving longer

Question 18

Define health surveillance

Answer 18

A scheme of repeated health checks

Question 19

Define positive predictive value

Answer 19

Ratio of patients truly diagnosed to all those who receive positive test results

Question 20

Define sensitivity

Answer 20

A tests ability to correctly identify someone who has a disease as positive

Question 21

Define specificity

Answer 21

A tests ability to correctly identify someone who doesn’t have a disease as negative

Question 22

Define obesity

Answer 22

Abnormal fat accumulation resulting from chronic imbalance between energy intake + expenditure which presents a risk to health

Question 23

Define error

Answer 23

Any preventable event that may cause harm or lead to patient harm

Question 24

Define errors of omission

Answer 24

When required action is delayed/not taken

Question 25

Define errors of commission

Answer 25

Wrong action taken

Question 26

Define professional negligence

Answer 26

Actions or omissions that do not meet the standards of an ordinary, skilled professional who has competence

Question 27

Define skill-based errors

Answer 27

Mistakes during routine tasks due to poor concentration/distraction e.g. slips of action + lapses of memory

Question 28

Define rule/knowledge based errors

Answer 28

Inexperience leading to incorrect course of action, often in complex tasks

Question 29

Define automaticity

Answer 29

Doing tasks without thinking

Question 30

Define cognitive interference

Answer 30

A more complex task requiring higher demands

Question 31

Define cognitive biases

Answer 31

Effects of long-term memory and previous experiences

Question 32

Define negative predictive value

Answer 32

Ratio of patients identified as not having the disease to those who truly don’t have the disease

Question 33

Define selection bias

Answer 33

Those who choose to participate in programmes may be different from those who do not

Question 34

Define length time bias

Answer 34

Diseases with longer periods of presentation are more likely to be detected than those that are aggressive

Question 35

Define ecological studies

Answer 35

Observational study that uses routine data from populations, looks at prevalence, trends + correlation

Question 36

Define cross-sectional studies

Answer 36

Observational/analytical studies that use info from individuals to update/supply prevalence data

Question 37

Define analytical studies

Answer 37

Observational studies that are analytical of relationships rather than simply descriptive

Question 38

Define cohort studies

Answer 38

Studies that observe a large group, over a longer period, then compare incidence between groups that differ in terms of exposure (prospective)

Question 39

Define longitudinal studies

Answer 39

Observational studies of persons over a period of time, taking measurements at more than one time point

Question 40

Define standard error

Answer 40

A measure in the confidence that the mean of any sample is close to the real mean

Question 41

Define 95% confidence intervals

Answer 41

A range of values within which the true population parameter will lie 95% of the time, it is statistically significant if it does not include 0 or 1

Question 42

Define null hypothesis

Answer 42

A theory that has been put forward-to be proved incorrect

Question 43

Define P-value

Answer 43

An estimate of the probability that an observed difference is due to chance, normally set at 5%

Question 44

Define a type 1 error

Answer 44

Rejecting a null hypothesis when it is true

Question 45

Define a type 2 error

Answer 45

Failure to reject a null hypothesis when it is false

Question 46

What were the 2 key findings of the 1998 Acheson report?

Answer 46

Income inequality should be reduced
Give high priority to the health of families with children

Question 47

What were the 2 key findings of the 1980 Black report?

Answer 47

Poorer people behave in unhealthy ways
Sick people sink socially + economically