Public Health, Hygiene and Epidemiology
Public health
Know the determinants of health, health indicators (mortality, life expectancy, morbidity), and the organization of sanitary-epidemiological surveillance. Understand health promotion and disease prevention levels (primary, secondary, tertiary).
Hygiene
Core areas: environmental hygiene (air, water, soil), food hygiene, occupational hygiene, and hospital hygiene. Know the principles of water quality assessment, food safety, and nosocomial infection prevention.
Epidemiology
Understand study designs (descriptive, analytical), measures of association (relative risk, odds ratio), and the principles of screening. Know the difference between screening and diagnostic testing.
Traps
- Confusing relative risk with odds ratio, or misinterpreting them.
- Mixing prevention levels (e.g., vaccination is primary prevention, screening is secondary).
- Overlooking the difference between screening and diagnosis.
Rule of thumb
For any prevention question, classify the level: before disease (primary), early detection (secondary), or limiting disability (tertiary). For study interpretation, check the design before choosing a measure of association.
Worked example
A program offering mammography to asymptomatic women is secondary prevention (early detection). The trap answer calling it primary prevention is wrong because primary prevention acts before disease occurs.