Deck 2: Thinking About Individual and Population Health

Question 1

The different levels of analysis discussed in your textbook in reference to health refer to ________ levels.

A) individual, community, and population
B) social, contextual, and biological
C) distal, intermediate, and proximal
D) local, international, and global

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Regular vigorous exercise if an example of a ________.

A) distal, micro level factor
B) meso, macro level factor
C) meso, micro level factor
D) proximal, individual-level factor

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Age is not a powerful or precise predictor of health because ________.

A) there are substantial variations at all ages in the health, resilience, and susceptibility of people
B) there is very little variability in the potential for healthy living, especially in older age groups
C) health and life expectancy at difference ages in different populations are very similar
D) the principal determinants of health and life expectancy are genetic

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The concept "gender" is ________.

A) synonymous with "sex"
B) the interplay of social and biologic factors
C) mostly about physiology
D) mostly about behaviour

Question 5

The following statement regarding sex is TRUE: ________.

A) Sex is a relatively poor predictor of health outcomes
B) Sex is only a good predictor of health when its influence is totally separated from gender differences
C) Gender is only a good predictor of health when its influence is totally separated from sex differences
D) There are no important sex or gender differences in health

Question 6

The findings from the field of epigenetics suggest that ________.

A) environmental factors have little impact on the expression of genes influencing our health
B) genes do not determine our health status which can be completely explained by environmental factors
C) genes react to environmental factors and neither our genes nor the environment decisively determines who we are and how healthy we will be
D) most diseases have underlying genetic causes

Question 7

The study of the social patterning of behaviour suggests that our behaviour ________.

A) is the best predictor of our health
B) is shaped by our social context and people with whom we interact
C) is a better predictor of health than our genetic makeup
D) is influenced by our genes

Question 8

The Multiple Risk Factors Intervention Trial conducted in the United States (1982) found that ________.

A) the risk factors the trial focused on account collectively for the majority of heart attacks
B) the easiest way to improve population health is to ensure that people eat healthy diets and have an adequate level of exercise
C) it is extremely difficult to change people's habits, at least in a lasting way
D) risk factors are best understood individually and not as a complex assemblage of variables

Question 9

In epidemiology, a secular change ________.

A) is a transition from highly religious society to a secular one
B) is a social and cultural change toward greater materialism and individualism
C) is a change in the behaviour of a population that occurs rapidly for no apparent reason
D) occurs when a change in behaviour happens in response to broader changes in society

Question 10

John Snow's contribution to the study of population health was ________.

A) the concept of miasma
B) the development of the germ theory
C) founding modern epidemiology
D) the theory of social facts

Question 11

Friedrich Engels's 1844 data on the working people of Manchester showed that the ________.

A) death rates of rich people in newly industrialized urban centres were much higher than the death rates of poor people in rural settings
B) death rates of poor people in rural settings were much higher than the death rates of poor people in newly industrialized urban centres
C) death rates of rich people in rural settings were much higher than the death rates of rich people in urban settings
D) death rates of poor people in newly industrialized urban centres were much higher than the death rates of poor people in non-industrialized urban centres

Question 12

________ developed the concept of "social facts."

A) Friedrich Engels
B) Rudolf Virchow
C) Émile Durkheim
D) Thomas McKeown

Question 13

The text identifies ________ as the two modern figures that are closely associated with the revival of a population-health perspective.

A) Gerry Rodgers and George Kaplan
B) Thomas McKeown and Geoffrey Rose
C) Émile Durkheim and Friedrich Engels
D) Rudolf Virchow and John Snow

Question 14

The works of McKeown showed that ________.

A) the main driver of decline in mortality from the most common infectious diseases in the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe is improved health care
B) the main driver of decline in mortality from the most common infectious diseases in the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe is changing social conditions
C) the demographic transition is not an accurate predictor of population change
D) immunization is a driving force for reduction in mortality rates from measles and scurvy

Question 15

The first phase in the demographic transition is characterized by ________.

A) low fertility rates, low mortality, rates and high population growth
B) low fertility rates, low mortality rates, and low population growth
C) high fertility rates, high mortality rates, and near-zero population growth
D) high fertility rates, low mortality rates, and high population growth

Question 16

The epidemiologic transition refers to ________.

A) the change from a population predominately suffering from infectious and parasitic diseases to increased prevalence of chronic conditions in a population
B) the transition in chronic disease prevalence from poor people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes to rich people
C) the stage of low economic development characterized by high-birth and high-death rates
D) the stage characterized by high-birth rates to a stage of relatively advanced economic development characterized by declining birth rates

Question 17

Crude death rates are calculated by ________.

A) comparing the average life span of individuals
B) computing life expectancy and mortality rates
C) counting the total deaths in a population within a given period of time, usually a year
D) calculating years of life lost before age 70

Question 18

The following statement regarding prevalence is TRUE: ________.

A) Prevalence is equivalent to the rate of disease in a population
B) Prevalence is calculated by considering the likelyhood of members of a population being exposed to a known risk
C) Prevalence does not tell us anything about probability of risk of contracting the disease
D) Prevalence and incidence are two identical measures

Question 19

A recent high-quality study of reported differences among-and between-Canadians and Americans shows that health inequalities are mostly attributable to ________.

A) differences in smoking habits
B) levels of physical activity
C) obesity and excessive weight differences
D) education and household income

Question 20

Incidence is ________.

A) a count of the number of cases of disease in a population over the past five years
B) a number of new cases of disease that arise in a given population over a specific period of time
C) a departure from a normal state, such as illness or disability
D) a simple count of the number of cases in a population at a point in time

Question 21

The population health level of analysis will focus on an individual's diet, level of exercise, and use of safety equipment such as a bike helmet.

Question 22

The individual-level model of health and disease is generally referred to as risk factors model.

Question 23

The risk factor model has two variants: a biomedical variant and a behavioural variant.

Question 24

An individual's genetics are the only accurate predictor of one's health status.

Question 25

Research shows that changing people's habits is the easiest and the most efficient way to improve population health.

Question 26

Thomas McKeown's (1976) research showed that the sharp decline in mortality in western Europe after 1850 was due to changing social and environmental factors, notably the availability and affordability of better diet.

Question 27

The demographic transition has three distinct phases.

Question 28

The epidemiological transition is said to occur when societies reach a level of affluence equivalent roughly to $6,000-$10,000 per capita income.

Question 29

The concept of "nesting" and the related idea of an "effects cascade" suggest that only factors acting immediately and directly on the individual determine health effects.

Question 30

Overall, risk factors at the individual level account for only a small proportion of the incidence of disease.

Question 31

What are three reasons why age is a poor predictor of population health?

Question 32

Sex is one of the host characteristics that is commonly used in the risk factors model. What are the problems associated with using sex as a predictor of one's health status?

Question 33

What is the predictive capacity of genetics in the risk factors model?

Question 34

What is wrong with the idea that disease is caused by behaviour combined with genetic susceptibility?

Question 35

What are the stages of demographic transition and what are the major features of each stage?

Question 36

Discuss the individual-level analysis of health and disease. Identify some shortcomings of this approach.

Question 37

Describe the contribution of the major thinkers to the population health perspective that date back to the nineteenth century. How did their ideas contribute to our understanding of population health?

Question 38

What are some the ways sex and gender affect health of Canadians?