Exam Card 10

I. Studying of morbidity & disability: the main methods & the used
documents.
1. Morbidity & disability as Public health indicators.
The role of their studying & control.
Morbidity is the prevalence of illness or condition in a population, is
usually expressed per 100,000 population.
Morbidity indicators = incidence/prevalence/hospital rate
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)

They indicate/evaluate total public health

Help to establish public health measurement eg preventive
medicine
Help researcher to build proper studies
Provide health services (education, care etc)

2. Morbidity ways to measure (crude rates, specific rates, absolute

number, proportions in the total)
Advantages
Disadvantages
Crude Rates
Actual summary rates
Differences in population
Readily calculable
compositions make interpretation
difficult
Specific Rates Addresses
Cumbersome if there are many
homogeneous
subgroups
subgroups
No summary figure
Useful for PH
absolute number
proportions in the total
3. Incidence & prevalence rates. Their difference & interconnection.
Attack rate.
a) Incidence rates
The incidence of disease is defined as the number of new cases of disease
occurring in a population during a defined time interval. It gives a direct
measure where persons in a population develop a disease. Therefore, it is a
measure of the risk of disease.
b) Prevalence rates

This is the ratio of the number of people with the disease at a point in time to
the total number of individuals at risk.
This is a proportion (or %) of cases in a population with the
disease.
Therefore, it doesnt measure risk of disease.
c) Attack rate.
= The number of new cases in a specific time period
The number of individuals at risk at that time period
Attack rate is calculated during a food poisoning, hepatitis, or other infection
outbreak to understand the incidence of disease for the week or month.
4. The sources of information about morbidity.
i) Through planned research
ii)
From records of health care centers
iii) Published media
5. Disability as an outcome. Kinds of disability, the leading cause of
disability.
Disability is the inability to carry out proper function.
Types
a) According to stages
i)
Impairment
ii)
Disability
iii) Handicapped
b) According to manifestation
i)
temporary
ii)
permanent
c) Ways of study
- by measuring the ability to perform daily activities &
comparing with the standard.
II. Time trends in Public health.
1. Kinds of time trends, events they can describe, measures used in
time trend analysis.
Its the study of event changes in a trend of time (long period)
Events they describe
i)
absolute number

ii)
rate
Criteria
i)
1 axis in time
ii)
aim to predict future/prognosis
Commonly studied time trends
i)
mortality rate
ii)
birth rate
iii) morbidity
iv) supply of physicians etc
2. Monotonic trends & fluctuations. Ways to detect tendency in time
trend.
Monotonic trends With clear/exact constant progression (eg
population)
Fluctuations with inconstant progression (eg HIV in different
countries)
- hard to conclude trend, so use leveling to see trend.
3. Indices for analysis of time trends & their calculation.
i)
Absolute difference (AD)
ii)
Rate of increase or decrease
iii) Value of 1% of changes
iv) Growth rate
4. Cyclic trends.
5. Effects of different variables in the time period & their
interpretation.