Arab Board Community Medicine Part 1 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Incidence rate

Number of new cases arising in a defined population during a specified period, divided by the population at risk; it measures the risk of developing disease.

Positive predictive value

Proportion of people with a positive test who truly have the disease; it is calculated as true positives divided by all positives and rises as disease prevalence increases.

Attributable risk

The difference in incidence between exposed and unexposed groups, representing the excess risk of disease that can be attributed to the exposure.

Lead-time bias

Apparent survival gain from screening caused by earlier diagnosis rather than delayed death; survival is measured from diagnosis, so screening falsely appears to prolong life.

Herd immunity threshold

The proportion of a population that must be immune to interrupt transmission, calculated as 1 minus 1 divided by the basic reproduction number.

Disability-adjusted life year

A summary measure of population health that adds years of life lost from premature death to years lived with disability, with disability weighted by severity.

Donabedian model

A framework for assessing healthcare quality across three dimensions: structure (resources and inputs), process (activities of care), and outcomes (results for patients).

Cost-effectiveness analysis

An economic evaluation that compares interventions by their cost per unit of health outcome, such as cost per life-year gained or per quality-adjusted life-year.

Universal health coverage

A health system goal ensuring all people receive needed health services without financial hardship, defined by population, service, and cost-coverage dimensions.

Hierarchy of controls

A ranked approach to reducing workplace hazards: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment as the least effective.

Biological monitoring

Measurement of a substance or its metabolite in body fluids or tissues, reflecting the internal dose absorbed through all exposure routes.

PM2.5

Airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less; it reaches the alveoli and is strongly linked to cardiopulmonary disease and mortality.

Maternal mortality ratio

The number of maternal deaths during a given period per 100,000 live births in the same period; it reflects obstetric risk and health system performance.

Exclusive breastfeeding

Feeding an infant only breast milk, without water or other foods, for the first six months of life, followed by complementary feeding and continued breastfeeding.

Neonatal mortality rate

Deaths of infants during the first 28 completed days of life per 1,000 live births in the same period; it is a sensitive indicator of perinatal care.

Magnesium sulfate

The first-line drug for preventing and treating seizures in severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, given intramuscularly or intravenously with monitoring for toxicity.

Basic reproduction number

The average number of secondary infections produced by one infectious case in a fully susceptible population; it determines the herd immunity threshold.

Case fatality rate

The proportion of diagnosed cases of a disease who die from it during a specified period; it differs from infection fatality rate, which includes undiagnosed cases.

Attack rate

The proportion of an exposed group who become ill during a limited period, commonly used to characterise food-borne and point-source outbreaks.

Contact tracing

Identifying people who have been exposed to an infectious case, assessing them, and isolating or treating them to interrupt onward transmission.

Ottawa Charter

A 1986 health promotion framework with five action areas: healthy public policy, supportive environments, community action, personal skills, and reoriented health services.

Health belief model

A behaviour model explaining preventive action through perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action.

Transtheoretical model

A behaviour-change model describing movement through stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and possible relapse.

Body mass index

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared; a value of 25 to 29.9 defines overweight and 30 or above defines obesity.

Kwashiorkor

A form of severe acute malnutrition marked by bilateral oedema, low serum albumin, and often skin and hair changes, distinct from the severe wasting of marasmus.

HACCP

A preventive food safety system with seven principles: hazard analysis, critical control points, limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and record keeping.

Universal salt iodisation

The main public health strategy to prevent iodine deficiency disorders, adding iodine to all edible salt to prevent goitre and impaired neurodevelopment.

Case-control study

An observational design comparing past exposure between people with a disease and matched controls; it estimates odds ratios and suits rare outcomes.

Cohort study

An observational design following exposed and unexposed groups over time to measure incidence and relative risk; it can establish temporal order of exposure and outcome.

Confounding

A third variable associated with both exposure and outcome that distorts the observed association; it is controlled by randomisation, stratification, or regression.

Sample size formula

For estimating a single proportion: n equals Z squared times p times (1 minus p) divided by the squared margin of error, inflated by a design effect for cluster sampling.

Data quality dimensions

Attributes used to judge health information, including completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency, validity, and accessibility; poor quality undermines surveillance and research.