NEET PG Social and Preventive Medicine Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Social and Preventive Medicine deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What is the difference between correlation and regression, and the range of the correlation coefficient?

   Correlation measures the strength and direction of a linear association between two variables; the coefficient r ranges from −1 to +1. Regression predicts the value of one (dependent) variable from another (independent) variable using a line equation.

2. Name commonly used epidemiological/statistical software for public health data analysis.

   Epi Info (CDC, free, outbreak analysis), SPSS, STATA, SAS, R (free, open-source), and GIS tools like QGIS/ArcGIS for spatial mapping of disease.

3. What are the components and uses of a Health Information System (HIS)?

   An HIS collects, processes, analyses, and disseminates health data (vital statistics, disease notifications, service records). It supports planning, monitoring, evaluation, resource allocation, and evidence-based decision-making.

4. What is disease surveillance and what are its two main types?

   Surveillance is the continuous, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data for action. Active surveillance = health workers actively seek cases; Passive surveillance = providers report cases routinely (less complete but cheaper).

5. What is the IDSP and the purpose of sentinel surveillance?

   IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, India) detects early warning signals of outbreaks for rapid response. Sentinel surveillance uses selected reporting sites to monitor trends of specific diseases when full population coverage is impractical.

6. What is the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), its formula, and why is it a sensitive health indicator?

   IMR = (deaths under 1 year in a year / live births in that year) × 1000. It is a sensitive index of a population's overall health, socioeconomic development, and quality of maternal-child health services.

7. List the major categories of health status indicators per WHO.

   Mortality indicators (IMR, MMR, life expectancy), morbidity indicators (incidence, prevalence), disability indicators (DALY, QALY), nutritional status, health-care delivery, utilization, and socioeconomic indicators.

8. What is a DALY and what does it combine?

   DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) = one lost year of healthy life. DALY = Years of Life Lost due to premature death (YLL) + Years Lived with Disability (YLD). It quantifies overall disease burden.

9. Name the key behavioural-change theories used in health promotion.

   Health Belief Model (perceived susceptibility/severity/benefits/barriers), Transtheoretical/Stages of Change Model, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Social Cognitive Theory (self-efficacy), and the PRECEDE-PROCEED planning model.

10. What are the five action areas of health promotion in the Ottawa Charter (1986)?

    Build healthy public policy, create supportive environments, strengthen community action, develop personal skills, and reorient health services toward prevention and promotion.

11. Compare individual, group, and mass approaches in health education with their reach and effectiveness.

    Individual (counselling) — high impact, personalized, low reach. Group (lectures, demonstrations, panel) — moderate reach, allows interaction. Mass media (TV, radio, posters) — widest reach but low individual impact; best for raising awareness.

12. What is community participation and empowerment in public health?

    Community participation is the active involvement of people in planning, implementing, and evaluating their own health programmes. Empowerment is the process enabling communities to gain control over decisions and resources affecting their health (a core Alma-Ata principle).

13. Classify the main types of environmental health hazards.

    Physical (heat, radiation, noise), Chemical (heavy metals, pesticides, pollutants), Biological (pathogens, vectors), Mechanical (accidents), Psychosocial (stress), and Social (overcrowding, poor housing).

14. What is environmental epidemiology and a classic example of its application?

    It studies the effect of environmental exposures (air/water/soil pollution, radiation) on population health. Classic examples: Minamata disease (methylmercury), Bhopal gas disaster (methyl isocyanate), and fluorosis from high-fluoride water.

15. Name key environmental health regulations/policies in India.

    The Environment (Protection) Act 1986, Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1974, Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981, and standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

16. What are the major health effects of climate change?

    Increased heat-related illness/deaths, expanded range of vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue), water- and food-borne diseases, malnutrition from crop failure, respiratory illness from air pollution, and displacement from extreme weather events.

17. What is nutritional epidemiology and the common methods of dietary assessment?

    It studies the relationship between diet/nutrition and disease in populations. Dietary assessment methods include 24-hour recall, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), food diary/record, and anthropometry combined with biochemical and clinical assessment.

18. Classify Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM): kwashiorkor vs marasmus.

    Kwashiorkor = severe protein deficiency with adequate calories; features edema, fatty liver, skin/hair changes, weight 60–80% of normal. Marasmus = severe deficiency of both calories and protein; features gross wasting, no edema, weight <60% normal.

19. Name India's major public health nutrition programmes.

    ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme, Vitamin A Prophylaxis Programme, National Iron Plus Initiative/Anaemia Mukt Bharat, and POSHAN Abhiyaan.

20. How is Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated and what are the WHO classification cut-offs?

    BMI = weight (kg) / height (m²). WHO: <18.5 underweight, 18.5–24.9 normal, 25–29.9 overweight, ≥30 obese. (Asian cut-offs are lower: overweight ≥23, obese ≥25.)

21. What is the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), and how does it differ from the maternal mortality rate?

    MMR (ratio) = (maternal deaths / live births) × 100,000 — the standard indicator of obstetric risk. The maternal mortality rate uses women of reproductive age as the denominator. WHO defines a maternal death as one during pregnancy or within 42 days of termination from related causes.

22. What is the recommended schedule and components of antenatal care under India's guidelines?

    At least 4 (now 8 per WHO 2016) antenatal visits, with at least one in each trimester. Components: registration, history/exam, weight/BP/anaemia checks, TT/Td immunization, IFA and calcium supplementation, ultrasonography, and counselling on danger signs and nutrition.

23. List the key child-health interventions under IMNCI / Universal Immunization Programme in India.

    Universal Immunization Programme vaccines (BCG, OPV/IPV, Pentavalent, Rotavirus, PCV, Measles-Rubella, JE, Td), exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, ORS+zinc for diarrhoea, Vitamin A prophylaxis, growth monitoring, and management of pneumonia/sepsis under IMNCI.

24. Define the adolescent age group and name India's flagship adolescent health programme.

    WHO defines adolescents as 10–19 years. India's flagship programme is RKSK (Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram), addressing nutrition, sexual & reproductive health, mental health, substance misuse, injuries/violence, and non-communicable diseases.

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