Public health + critical numbers definitions Flashcards
Define health
The state of complete physical, mental + social well-being, not merely the absence of disease
Define demography
Anatomy of a population
Define sociology
Physiology of a population
Define epidemiology
Pathology of a population
Define incidence
How many new cases in a year
Define prevalence
The proportion of the population affected by a disease at a particular point in time
Define burden of a disease
How it affects your life
Define primary prevention
An intervention implemented before there is evidence of a disease-aims to reduce causative risk factors
Define secondary prevention
An intervention implemented after a disease has begun, but before it is symptomatic-aim is early identification
Define tertiary prevention
An intervention implemented after a disease is established-aims to prevent sequelae (bad things getting worse)
Define the prevention paradox
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
Define absolute risk
The probability (risk) of an developing a disease within a stated period of time
Define relative risk
The probability (risk) of developing a disease relative to exposure
Define opportunity cost
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
Define QALYs
Quality adjusted life years-a calculation that combines length of life + quality of life
Define the inverse care law
The availability of good medical care varies inversely with the need of the population served
Define lead-time bias
Early diagnosis falsely makes it seem like people are surviving longer
Define health surveillance
A scheme of repeated health checks
Define positive predictive value
Ratio of patients truly diagnosed to all those who receive positive test results
Define sensitivity
A tests ability to correctly identify someone who has a disease as positive
Define specificity
A tests ability to correctly identify someone who doesn’t have a disease as negative
Define obesity
Abnormal fat accumulation resulting from chronic imbalance between energy intake + expenditure which presents a risk to health
Define error
Any preventable event that may cause harm or lead to patient harm
Define errors of omission
When required action is delayed/not taken
Define errors of commission
Wrong action taken
Define professional negligence
Actions or omissions that do not meet the standards of an ordinary, skilled professional who has competence
Define skill-based errors
Mistakes during routine tasks due to poor concentration/distraction e.g. slips of action + lapses of memory
Define rule/knowledge based errors
Inexperience leading to incorrect course of action, often in complex tasks
Define automaticity
Doing tasks without thinking
Define cognitive interference
A more complex task requiring higher demands
Define cognitive biases
Effects of long-term memory and previous experiences
Define negative predictive value
Ratio of patients identified as not having the disease to those who truly don’t have the disease
Define selection bias
Those who choose to participate in programmes may be different from those who do not
Define length time bias
Diseases with longer periods of presentation are more likely to be detected than those that are aggressive
Define ecological studies
Observational study that uses routine data from populations, looks at prevalence, trends + correlation
Define cross-sectional studies
Observational/analytical studies that use info from individuals to update/supply prevalence data
Define analytical studies
Observational studies that are analytical of relationships rather than simply descriptive
Define cohort studies
Studies that observe a large group, over a longer period, then compare incidence between groups that differ in terms of exposure (prospective)
Define longitudinal studies
Observational studies of persons over a period of time, taking measurements at more than one time point
Define standard error
A measure in the confidence that the mean of any sample is close to the real mean
Define 95% confidence intervals
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
Define null hypothesis
A theory that has been put forward-to be proved incorrect
Define P-value
An estimate of the probability that an observed difference is due to chance, normally set at 5%
Define a type 1 error
Rejecting a null hypothesis when it is true
Define a type 2 error
Failure to reject a null hypothesis when it is false
What were the 2 key findings of the 1998 Acheson report?
Income inequality should be reduced
Give high priority to the health of families with children
What were the 2 key findings of the 1980 Black report?
Poorer people behave in unhealthy ways
Sick people sink socially + economically
