Population, Health, Development Midterm #1

Describe what information is used to derive the wealth index from the Demographic and Health

Survey questionnaire data. Name 3 items included.

The information used to derive the wealth index from the DHS data are asset indicators.This would include cars, land, and appliances

Name two essential features of a census.

Individual enumeration, universality, simultaneity, periodicity

What is individual enumeration?

Each person must be counted individually

What is universality?

The people included in the study are representative of the entire population (ie cannot include only white people)

What is simultaneity?

Data for the study is collected at a single point of time

What is periodicity?

The study is conducted over a regular interval of time (ie every 5 years)

Give one reason why surveys can generally yield more accurate information than censuses

Smaller, better trained interviewers, more detailed questions

What are the three main types of sources of demographic data?

Vital registration, census, surveys

What is vital registration?

Records of vital events (ie birth and death)

What is a census?

Data collection from a big group of people

What is a survey?

Detailed data collection from a smaller group of people

Why was 1790 census of USA not a census by the definition?

The 1790 census was not a census by definition because it did not have individual enumeration. The study only recorded the names of the head of the household and grouped other members into a singular category.

What does GDP stand for?

Gross domestic product

Why might study of cemetery records give a biased picture of mortality in the past?

Not everyone gets a lasting grave marker. Buying graves is very expensive or alternatively, some may wish to get cremated. This leads to the underrepresentation of many groups, including poor people and infants

When did the world reach 1 billion people?

around 1800s (~1830s)

When did the world reach 8 billion people?

2022

Name 1 country in the top 10 with highest natural increase rate

Niger, Uganda, Angola, Mali, Somalia

Why do scientists talk of a demographically divided world?

There are significant disparities across countries in fertility rates, growth of fertility rates, and the age structure (differences in the number of women of reproductive age)

What does CBR (crude birth rate) mean in words?

the number of live births per 1000 people in a population in a year

What does CDR (crude death rate) mean in words?

the number of deaths per 1000 people in a population in a year

What is the equation for CBR?

1000 x (# of live births in a year)/(midyear population)

What is the equation for CDR?

1000 x (deaths)/(midyear population)

What is the equation for CRNI?

CRNI = CBR - CDR

In what decade was the peak of the world population growth rate?

1960s

What is the bookkeeping equation of population growth?

Pt= P0 + B - D + I - O (Pt=end population, P0= initial population, B=births, D=deaths, I=in migrants, O=out migrants)

Approximately what percent of world population growth is occurring in developed countries?

Under 5%, 95% of population growth occurs in developed countries

How can the absolute number of births increase if the birth rate is declining?

Which subregion has quite a few countries with negative natural increase?

The base population keeps growing, because the number of women of reproductive age continues to increase. If the population grows faster than the birth rates falls, there will be an increase in the number of births. The subregion would be Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Latvia, Ukraine, Hungaria, Lithuania)

By approximately how many persons is the world population growing each year?

70- 78 million

In what region do most of the people of the world live?

Asia

Which region has the highest population growth rate?

Sub-Saharan Africa

What is the estimated world population size in (mid-)2026 (2 significant digits)?

8.3 billion

What is the simple rule to find doubling time given the rate of growth?

70/r → r=annual population growth rate in percent

Why is population momentum an important concept for countries concerned about population

growth in the future?

A country with a young age structure will keep growing for decades even if the fertility level drops to replacement level because there are large groups of people still entering their child-bearing years.

What is population momentum?

When a population continues to grow even after fertility drops to its replacement level

Name 2 countries among the top 10 contributors to world population growth (numbers of persons

added per year).

India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ethiopia

About how many years did it take to add the last billion persons to the planet?

11 years

What (median) population size does the UN project for the year 2050 (1 significant digit is fine)?

10 billion

What is the only sustainable population growth rate in the long term?

0

What can be done to decrease high wanted fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Invest in human capital (ie womens education, girls education), delay child-bearing, and strengthen family planning programs

Describe the stages of the demographic transition

1) high birth + death rates (low or 0 population growth), 2) death rates decrease, birth rates are still high, thus the overall population growth is high 3) both birth rates and death rates decrease resulting in the population growth decreasing 4) both birth rates and death rates are low (low to 0 popuation growth)

Draw the graph of the demographic transition

Weird shape

Define in words the expectation of life at birth

Expected number of years a newborn will live if he or she survives given the current mortality rate by age in population

Name one public health intervention that led to declines in mortality in 19th century Europe

Water drainage systems, cleaner drinking water

Describe the epidemiological transition

Deaths shifted from younger to older age groups and from infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases

Is malaria transmitted by female mosquitos, male mosquitos or both?

female anopheles

What has been the main intervention to eliminate polio from most of the world?

Vaccinations (oral or injected)

Name 2 of the top five causes of death of children under 5 in the world

Prematurity, diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, birth asphyxia/trauma

Describe infant mortality rates in words

Deaths under age 1

Write the equation for infant mortality rate

(# of deaths for infants under age 1)/(# of live births in 1 year) x 1000

Describe neonatal mortality rate

Deaths within the first 28 days

Write the equation for neonatal mortality rate

(# of deaths for infants 0-3 weeks)/(# of live births in 1 year) x 1000

Describe postneonatal mortality rate in words

Deaths from 1-11 months

Write out the equation for postneonatal mortality rate

(# of deaths for infants 1-11 months)/(# of live births in 1 year) x 1000

How does infant mortality rate correspond to neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates?

Infant mortality rate= neonatal mortality rate + postneonatal mortality rate

What is a simple low-cost treatment for diarrhea?

Oral Rehydration Therapy. ORT uses ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts). ORS consists of water, salt, and sugar and replaces lost electrolites

Why is malnutrition very important even though it is rarely a cause of death in children?

It weakens their immune system, making them more sucestible to infection

Why is CDR a poor measure to compare the health of populations?

CDR is influenced by the age structure of the population. Each county should have its own mortality indicator adjusted to their unique age structure.

Name one way to prevent malaria

Mosquito nets, insect repellents

What is the intervention that prevents polio and measles?

vaccinations

The sum of cause-specific death rates in a population gives what rate?

Crude Death Rata (aka All cause death rate)

Why did the expectation of life at birth decline in Southern African countries in the 1990s?

HIV/AIDS Epidemic

What is the definition of low birth weight?

Babies born that are less than 2500 grams

Why is it nearly impossible to isolate persons infected with polio as a public health strategy?

Most polio virus infections are asymptomatic or low symptoms. In fact, 90% of infections are asymptomatic

What is the definition of fecundability?

Probability of women conceiving (getting pregnant) during menustration

What is the definition of parity?

number of live births a women gives birth to

What is the definition of gravidity?

number of pregnancies a women has

What is replacement fertility?

number of births per women so that the population replaces itself in the long run

Why is replacement level fertility (for TFR) about at least 2.1 births per woman instead of 2.0?

Because not every child survives to reproduce + more boys are born than girls

What are intermediate (proximate) fertility variables?

Variables that directly influence whether the pregnancy occurs

Name 3 of the intermediate fertility variables

Contraceptive use, age of entry into sexual union, permanent celibacy

In what circumstances can a woman’s parity be higher than her gravidity?

Multiple births (twins, triplets, etc)

Why/how does age at marriage affect TFR in a population?

Women who marry younger have a higher period of time where thry could become pregnant, increasing TFR

What are the two types of unintended births?

Mistimed(wanted pregnancy at later time), unwanted (never wanted pregnancy)

What is the difference between a background or distal variable and an intermediate or proximate

variable vis a vis fertility?

Distal variables influence whether or not a pregnancy occurs indirectly whereas an intermediate variable influences whether or not a pregnancy occurs directly

What is the most important intermediate determinant of fertility; what is the most important

distal determinant of fertility?

Intermediate → contraceptive, distal → education

Why is the duration of postpartum amenorrhea associated with the duration of breastfeeding?

This is because of increased prolacten levels which willl hinder ovulation and delay menstruation, postopartum amenorrhea = period of absence of period

How long is the potential reproductive life span of a woman (on average)?

35

Without any contraception, what percentage of sexually active women will become pregnant in

one year?

85%

Name two countries with below replacement fertility

USA, China

What approximately was the global value of TFR in 2026?

2.2 births/women

Why in the plot of TFR vs contraceptive prevalence, do many countries lie off the fitted line?

This is because contraception is only one determinant of fertility. Abortion caused many countries to be below the fitted line while religion, correlated to the pull out method, caused many countries to be above the fitted line

What is the difference between primary and secondary sterility?

Primary sterility is the inability to bear a live birth while secondary sterility is the inability to bear a live birth after having already bearing a live birth once in the past

Name one hormone whose level spikes at midcycle and is a signal of impending ovulation

LH (luteinizing hormone)

Approximately how many sperm are there per ejaculate (order of magnitude is fine)?

150-300 million

At what time during the menstrual cycle is a woman fertile?

Fertile window → 5 days prior to ovulation and day 1 of ovulation

Briefly describe one of the fertility awareness methods

Standard days method (counting days of cycle with beads)

Name one reason why fertility awareness methods have a high failure rate in typical use.

Ovulation time varies

Name 2 advantages of male sterilization over female sterilization for couples who wish to have

no more births.

Less expensive, outpatient, fewer medical complications

In what organ does sperm production begin?

testicles

Why is the withdrawal method not very effective?

It requires perfect self control + timing

What does LARC stand for? What does it include?

LARC = long acting reversible contraceptions. It includes IUDs and implants (nexplanons)

Rank these contraceptive methods in order of use-effectiveness (not ideal) from low to high:

IUD, condom, pill, sterilization, fertility awareness methods

fertility awareness methods (lowest)

condom

pill

IUD

sterilization

How often is the DepoProvera shot given?

Every 3 months

In what region are infant and child mortality the highest?

Sub-Saharan Africa

In which continent is low birth weight the highest proportion of births?

Asia

What is exclusive breastfeeding?

Feedinf infants breast milk for the first 6 months of life

Name 2 interventions to prevent neonatal deaths

Antibiotics for neonatal sepsis, early initiation of breastfeeding (within first hour)

Name 3 vaccines recommended by WHO for children 0-6 years of age.

hepatitis B, MMR, DTaP

What is a treatment for bacterial pneumonia?

antibiotics

What therapy saves children with diarrhea from dying?

ORT (oral rehydration therapy)