Public Health - How do we Measure the Health of the Population Flashcards
Why do we measure health
Prevalence & Incidence
Longitudinal trends/patterns
Service planning
Intervention/policy
Where do we get the information
Census
Health Survey for England
GP’s
Audits
Define Birth Rate
No. of live births per 1000 pop.
Define Total fertility rate
Average no. of children women would have subject to age-specific fertility rates at the time
Define General fertility rate
Birth rate for women 15-44
Define Prevalence
Count of cases at a point in time of population of known size
Define Incidence
Count of new cases over period of time in population of known size
Define Infant Mortality Rate
No. of deaths in children below age of 1 over all live births
Define Crude mortality rate
Total number of deaths in 1 year over total mid year population
Define disease specific death rate
No. of deaths from disease over total mid year population
What is direct standardisation
Age specific rates from study pop. applied to standard pop. structure
What are the advantages direct standardisation
Compare disease rates across area _ time
Assess relative burden of different disease in pop.
What is indirect standardisation
Age specific rates from standard pop. applied to study pop. stucture
What are the advantages of indirect standardisation
Does not require local rates
Easier to interpret rates
What are the disadvantages of indirect standardisation
Areas cannot be directly compared
Doesnt indicate actual burden of disease
