Test 2 Flashcards
What is a determinant?
Any event or characteristic that influences health outcomes
What is socioeconomic position?
The impact of social and economic factors on the individual or group’s standing in social structure
What categories does a measure of SEP have to fit?
It must be objective, meaningful and measurable
What are examples of SEP factors?
Income, education, occupation, housing, culture, services nearby, social capital.
What do SEP factors do?
They: Quantify inequality levels within and between societies
Highlight changes to society
Highlight relationships between health and other factors
What needs to be remembered when measuring income?
Personal income is often private, therefore it can introduce bias. It can be absolute or categorical
Household income is useful to categorize individuals who may not be the main income earner, but should be equivalized for comparison between populations
How does income help measure health status?
It has a direct relationship with health, has a cumulative effect and has the greatest potential for change. Therefore it’s a great measure of socioeconomic position
How do we measure education levels?
It can be continuous (years in education) or categorical (highest qualification). However it can be confusing due to factors such as different education standards for a certain qualification in each population.
How does education help measure health?
It corresponds with the person’s ability to respond to health messages and is easy to access.
How do we measure occupation?
Current or longest held job. It is transferrable to the dependents of a head of household.
How does occupation help measure health?
It’s closely related with income and social standing, and affects stress levels and workplace hazards.
What is an odds ratio?
Yes / No for each group in the gate frame: a/c and b/d.
What is health inequality?
Differences in health experience and outcomes of different populations due to factors such as SEP, gender etc (the social gradient).
What is health inequity?
Inequalities coming from injustices. It involves the distribution of resources being unreflective of health needs. It gives different groups unequal power.
What are the four reasons for reducing inequality? (Woodward & Kawachi)
- They are unfair
- They affect everyone
- Their reduction could be cost effective
- They are avoidable
What is social mobility?
People’s ability to move between social strata in a society. It can be intra or inter generational
What is equity of opportunity?
Everybody having the same chance of moving up the social ladder
How do you draw a lorenz curve?
Draw a 45 degree line on the axes and plot he cumulative share of wealth by share of population
What is the gini coefficient and how does it work?
It is the ratio between the observed vs. ideal equality. It is A/(A+B) where A = the area between the line and drawn curve, while B = the area under the drawn curve. A coefficient = 0 is perfectly equal, while 1 is perfectly unequal.
What are the three ways life evens can interact to affect our long term health and well-being?
- Cumulative (poverty trap)
- Multiplicative (IHD risk factors)
- Programming (foetal stimuli affecting later life)
What is the difference between population health and individual determinants?
Population determinants also involve the societal context
What are downstream interventions?
They operate at the micro level, such as treatment of patients and management of individuals.
What are upstream interventions?
They operate at the macro level: policies and international trade agreements
What are the 5 areas of the Dahlgren and Whitehead model?
Age, sex and genes Individual and lifestyle factors Social and Community factors Living/Working Conditions Socioeconomic, global and cultural factors
What are the subgroups of living/working conditions in the dahlgren & whitehead model?
Agriculture & food, Education, Work, Development, Sanitation, Healthcare, Housing
What are the three levels in the Dahlgren and Whitehead model?
The individual (genetics and lifestyle) The Community (social and community factors, living/working) The environment (cultural, global, socioeconomic)
What is a habitus?
An individual’s lifestyle, values, disposition and expectations
What is social capital?
Social networks between individuals which provide an inclusive environment
What is structure?
The social and physical environmental conditions and patterns influencing peoples’ choices and opportunities. (Operates in areas 3-5 of D-W model)
What is agency?
The ability of individuals to make free choices (L2-3 of D-W model).
How is maori health exemplified in NZ?
Many disparities in almost all areas of health.
What are the two types of intervention?
Structural (providing resources or services)
Social (changing ways of thinking and behavior)
How are ethnic disparities determined?
Differential access to health determinants and exposure, leading to differences in incidence
Differential access to care
Differences in care quality
What do minority groups tend to report of health care?
Less: feeling listened to time with the provider adequate explanations More: Unanswered questions dissatisfaction
What are the two ways in which minorities are disadvantaged?
Structurally (wealth and power distribution)
Socially (peoples’ expectations)
What was a result of the ToW?
- Land alienation -> disruption, power and alliance shifts, resource depletion, resentment
- Policy alienation
- Inferior Citizenship: Entrenched poverty and dependency, barriers to development, acceptance of inequality, resentment, and social breakdown (crime).
What does neighbourhood deprivation measure?
The relative position of a neighbourhood in society. It focusses on what a neighbourhood doesn’t have.
What are variables of deprivation?
Communication, income, employment, qualification, home ownership, support, space and transport.
What is NZDep used for and how should its conclusions be phrased?
Planning and allocation, research and advocacy. Should be “people in the most deprived neighbourhoods” NOT “the most deprived people”.
What is the ecological fallacy?
Error arising when information about groups is used to infer about individuals- eg. smoker prevalence in neighbourhoods is really ascribed to income
What does a healthy environment have?
Physical, social and political settings which prevent disease and promote well-being. This includes clean air & water, good housing, wholesome food, safe spaces, transport and opportunities for exercise.
What is the built environment?
All the buildings, spaces and products created or significantly modified by people.
What is included in the built environment?
Structures such as homes, schools. Urban design, such as above, below and across-ground structures (like roads).
How is the built environment categorized?
Urban density, land-use mix, street connectivity and community resources.
How can the street network positively influence health outcomes?
Interconnectivity in a grid pattern encourages active transport.
How can traffic calming positively influence health outcomes?
By increasing the street width for cycle lanes, pedestrian crossings etc, it discourages driving and encourages active transport.
How can land-use mix positively influence health outcomes in terms of food retail?
Access to supermarkets allows a range of nutritious foods at competitive prices to be provided.
How can land-use mix positively influence health outcomes in terms of residential:commercial ratio?
Having workplaces near homes increases the chance for active transport.
How can public active spaces positively influence health outcomes?
Having activity-encouraging spaces in close proximity increases the opportunity for physical activity.
How can housing density positively influence health outcomes?
Increasing the number of residential and commercial sites in an area increases active transport
How can site design positively influence health outcomes?
If food is grown in home or community gardens, fresh and nutritious produce is available as well as benefits for mental health and the chance for education.
How can street aesthetics positively influence health outcomes?
Increased safety promotes active transport.
How can transport positively influence health outcomes?
Public systems like busses, cycle lanes etc. increase active transport.
Where do upstream vs. downstream interventions sit on the Dahlgren and Whitehead model?
Upstream interventions tend to belong on the outermost arch of the DW model- the social, political and physical environment. Downstream tend to target the individual or lifestyle. However, interventions can take place at any level.
What is access?
The relationship between the health service providers and buyers (patients and doctors).
What are the 5 A’s of access and what barriers do they represent?
Availability- Existence of Service Barriers Accessibility- Geographic Barriers Accommodation- Organisational Barriers Affordability- Financial Barriers Acceptability- Psychosocial Barriers
What is availability?
The relationship between the volume and type of existing services/resources to the client’s volume and type of needs.
What were the questions asked to quantify availability?
Do you feel you can get good medical care when you need it?
Are you satisfied with your ability to find one good doctor for your whole family?
How satisfied are you with your knowledge of where to get healthcare?
Are you satisfied with your ability to get health care in an emergency?
What is accessibility?
The relationship between the location of supply and the location of the clients, taking into account transportation resources, travel time, distance and cost.
What were the questions asked to quantify accessibility?
How satisfied are you with how convenient the doctors’ office is from your home?
How difficult is it to get to your physician’s office?
What is accommodation?
The relationship between the manner in which supply resources are organised and the expectation of clients- how are they managed to meet clients’ needs? This also includes thing such as surcharges for after-hours care, and interpretation services.
What were the questions asked to quantify accommodation?
How satisfied are you with how long you have to wait for an appointment?
How convenient are the doctors’ office hours?
How satisfied are you with the length of time you wait in the waiting room?
How easy is it for you to get in touch with your doctor?
What is affordability?
The cost of provider services in relation to the clients’ ability and willingness to pay for the services. This also includes opportunity cost of time taken off work etc.`
What were the questions asked to quantify affordability?
How satisfied are you with your health insurance?
How satisfied are you with your doctor’s prices?
How satisfied are you with how soon the bill must be paid?
What is acceptability?
The relationship between clients’ and providers’ attitudes to what constitutes appropriate care
What were the questions asked to quantify acceptability?
How satisfied are you with the appearance of the doctors’ offices?
How satisfied are you with the neighbourhoods the offices are in?
How satisfied are you with the other patients you see at the doctors offices?
What is potential access?
What services could be accessed if needed (applies to everyone)
What is realised access?
What is actually accessed or can actually be used (applies to few).
Why is there a paradox within access?
It is difficult to remain within treatment guidelines but deliver culturally appropriate services to different groups.
What are the different measures of inequities?
Relative (no units): - Relative risk (EGO/CGO) - External quotient (highest value/lowest value) Absolute (Units) - Absolute risk (EGO-CGO) - Range (Highest value- lowest value)
What are the external quotient and range used for?
Measuring the extent of a difference between different populations
What is important about carrying out interventions in certain groups?
Different strategies can be used based on INDIVIDUAL patient risk factors- you can test them the same way and have the same disease outcome, but different interventions can be enacted.
What is the difference between guidelines and treatment?
Guidelines are more population health- they are upstream interventions.
Treatment is more clinical- they are downstream interventions.
Where do the 5 A’s fit in the DW model?
They are in the community section (L3)
What is the inverse care law?
The availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the needs of the population served.”
What needs to be considered when looking at who uses treatments?
What should the intervention statistics look like, considering who is most at risk for a dis-ease?
What is epidemiology?
The study of the distribution and determinants of health related status or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health-related issues.
What is the aim of population health?
To produce the maximum benefit for the most people while reducing inequities in the distribution of health and well-being.
What different studies fit at each levels of the Public Health Framework?
Define = X section
Identify factors = Cohort/Case control
Develop strategies = RCTs, diagnostic test & accuracy studies
What is the difference between clinicians and pop healthers?
Clinicians are reactive- they treat patients who are present
Population health is comprehensive and proactive- it is concerned with groups of people in the context of their environment.
What do epidemiologists look for?
Relationships between different exposures and outcomes in a population- not necessarily the causes.
When can we take preventative action?
As soon as we see a relationship between two factors- we don’t need to know the entire disease pathway to put measures in place.
What are the 7 bradford hill criteria?
- Temporality
- Strength of association
- Consistency of association
- Biological gradient
- Biological plausibility
- Specificity of association
- Reversibility
And JUDGEMENT! Remember, we don’t need all 7 for causality
What is involved with temporality?
Which came first? (Eg does smoking cause cancer or do we smoke because we have cancer?)
This is ESSENTIAL for causality
What is involved with strength of association?
The stronger the association, the more likely something is to be causal in the absence of bias.
What is involved with consistency of association?
The repetition of findings with different investigators, times, places, and using different measures.
What is involved with the biological gradient?
The change in the degree of exposure leads to a change in the degree of outcomes
What is involved with biological plausibility?
Does it make biological sense?
What is involved with specificity of association?
A single cause leading to a single effect. However, this does not often work- eg. obesity, smoking cause multiple issues.
What is involved with reversibility?
If a cause is removed, does the outcome disappear/change?
What must be remembered when using the bradford hill criteria?
These are not a checklist, but a guide for thought. Causal phenomena are often complex. The exposure-outcome relationship is usually not 1:1.
What is the cause of a disease?
An event, condition, characteristic or combination of these which play an essential role in the development of the disease.
How do causal pies work?
Each group studied has their own causal pie. This is called a ‘sufficient cause’. It is made up of the relative proportion of causes of a dis-ease. The sufficient cause will inevitably produce the specific dis-ease.
What is a component cause?
A factor that contributes to the dis-ease, but can’t cause it alone. These are the things which make up the ‘sufficient cause’ of the whole pie.
What is a necessary cause?
A component cause which must be present for the disease to occur
What are the two ways in which health outcomes can be improved?
Directly via treatment
Indirectly through an improvement in living conditions- levels 2-5 on the DW model. These other determinants can affect the determinants of specific diseases.
What are causal pies used for?
To show the association and infer causation to intervene and prevent disease.
How does epidemiology help to stop dis-ease?
- It unravels the causal pathway
- It allows preventative action to occur
- It allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions
How is the need for upstream intervention (prevention) changing?
It increases as the costs of medicine increase, and limits of treatment become apparent.