WACE Health Studies ATAR flashcards

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

WHO health definition

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, as defined by WHO in 1948.

Incidence

The number of new cases of a condition arising in a defined population during a specified period, divided by the population at risk.

Prevalence

The total number of existing cases of a condition in a population at a given time, divided by the total population, expressed as a proportion or per 100,000.

Infant mortality rate

Deaths of infants under one year of age in a period divided by live births in the same period, multiplied by 1000; a sensitive population health indicator.

DALY

Disability-adjusted life year, computed as years of life lost to premature death plus years lived with disability; one DALY equals one lost healthy year.

Life expectancy at birth

The average number of years a newborn would live if current age-specific death rates remained constant; a population summary, not an individual prediction.

Age standardisation

A statistical adjustment that applies a common age structure to rates from different populations so comparisons are not distorted by differing age profiles.

Health determinants

The biological, behavioural, social, economic, environmental and cultural factors that interact to influence the health status of individuals and populations.

Social determinants of health

Conditions of birth, growth, living, working and ageing, plus the wider systems shaping daily life, that produce systematic differences in health status between groups.

Ottawa Charter action areas

Build healthy public policy, create supportive environments, strengthen community action, develop personal skills, and reorient health services, as set out in 1986.

Ottawa Charter strategies

The three basic strategies of the Ottawa Charter are to enable, to mediate and to advocate, underpinning the five action areas of health promotion.

Health promotion

The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health, operating on populations and upstream conditions rather than only individual behaviour.

Health education

Planned learning experiences that build knowledge, attitudes and skills about health; it is one component of health promotion, not a synonym for it.

Upstream approach

Action targeting broad policy, economic and environmental conditions that shape health risks across populations, rather than treating individual behaviours or illnesses.

Levels of prevention

Primary prevents onset before disease occurs, secondary detects disease early, and tertiary reduces complications and restores function after disease is established.

Health Belief Model

A behaviour model predicting action from perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers and cues to action, with self-efficacy added later.

Transtheoretical Model

A staged model of behaviour change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, where relapse is treated as a normal cyclical event.

Evidence hierarchy

A ranking of study designs by susceptibility to bias, from systematic reviews and randomised trials at the top to case series and expert opinion at the bottom.

Randomised controlled trial

An experimental design in which participants are randomly allocated to intervention or control groups, supporting causal inference by balancing known and unknown confounders.

Cohort study

An observational design following an exposed and unexposed group over time to measure incidence and establish temporality between exposure and outcome.

Case-control study

An observational design comparing people with an outcome to matched controls without it, looking back at past exposures; efficient for rare outcomes.

Cross-sectional study

A study measuring exposure and outcome simultaneously in a population sample at one point in time; it estimates prevalence but cannot establish temporality.

Internal validity

The extent to which a study's results accurately reflect the true relationship in the studied group, protected by randomisation, blinding and control of confounders.

External validity

The extent to which study findings can be generalised to other populations, settings and times, influenced by sampling and study conditions.

Reliability versus validity

Reliability is consistency and repeatability of a measure; validity is whether it measures what it intends. A measure can be reliable but invalid.

Confounding

A third variable associated with both the exposure and the outcome that distorts the observed relationship unless controlled by design or analysis.

Informed consent

Voluntary agreement to participate after being told the purpose, procedures, risks, benefits and right to withdraw, a core research ethics requirement.

Health advocacy

Action to create favourable conditions for health by influencing political, economic, social and cultural factors, as described in the Ottawa Charter.

Advocacy levels

Advocacy operates at individual or patient level, community or group level, and systemic or policy level, with different tactics and targets at each.

Policy cycle

The sequence of agenda setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation and evaluation; advocacy is often most efficient at the agenda-setting stage.

Coalition advocacy

Alliances of organisations pooling resources and legitimacy to influence policy; they increase political weight but can slow decisions and dilute messages.

Social marketing

Applying commercial marketing principles, including audience segmentation and the product, price, place and promotion mix, to achieve voluntary behaviour change for social benefit.