Short Answer Questions

Chapter 10: Using health information and epidemiology

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1. What demographic information is important when studying health?

Demography is concerned with the analysis of population size and structure, especially in relation to its determinants, fertility, mortality and migration – information will be collected on age, gender, ethnicity, mobility and migration, home ownership, employment status, and location.

2. What does SES stand for?

Socio-economic status – this relates to a person's work experience and their economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation.

3. What is epidemiology?

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health and illness in populations.

4. Define prevalence in relation to disease.

Prevalence is the total number of individuals with a disease or a condition in a defined population in a defined period of time and is usually expressed by the term "cases".

5. Define incidence in relation to disease.

The incidence of a disease or a condition is the number of new cases of a disease or condition that occur during a defined period in a specific population.

6. What does SMR stand for and what is it?

SMR is the Standardized Mortality Ratio and is expressed as a rate per 100000 (for a population). Standardization will identify the ratio between the actual number of deaths to the expected number of deaths in a specific population.

7. What is a DALY?

Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the cumulative number of years lost due to ill health, disability or early death.

8. What is a risk factor?

A risk factor is any attribute, characteristic or exposure of an individual that increases the likelihood of developing a disease or injury. Some examples of the more important risk factors for public health are unsafe sex, high blood pressure, tobacco and alcohol consumption and obesity.