Lecture 3: Indicators of Population Health

A set of flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on indicators of population health, designed to aid in understanding and retention of important terminology.

Risk Incidence Proportion

The probability that a disease/event occurs in a specified time among a defined population, computed as cases ÷ persons followed for that entire time.

Incidence Rate (IR)

The number of cases divided by the person-time at risk, summing over individuals of time during which an event would count.

Risk Difference (RD)

The difference in risk between exposed and unexposed groups, calculated as Riskexposed - Riskunexposed.

Relative Risk (RR)

The ratio of the risk of disease in the exposed group to the risk in the unexposed group.

Counterfactual Basis

The concept of comparing what did happen under exposure versus what would have happened without exposure to establish causal relationships.

Causal Effect Measures

Quantitative assessments that contrast risks or rates between exposed and unexposed scenarios to define causal relations.

Attributable Fraction (AF)

The proportion of risk within a population that is attributable to a certain exposure, which provides insight into the impact of that exposure.

Life Tables

A statistical table that shows the probability of death and survival based on age, used to analyze mortality and survival rates.

Surveillance

The ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data for the purpose of public health practice.

Risk Incidence Proportion

The probability that a disease/event occurs in a specified time among a defined population, computed as cases \div persons followed for that entire time.

Incidence Rate (IR)

The number of cases divided by the person-time at risk, summing over individuals of time during which an event would count.

Prevalence Proportion

The proportion of a population that has a disease at a specific point in time; calculated as the number of existing cases divided by the size of the population.

Risk Difference (RD)

The difference in risk between exposed and unexposed groups, calculated as Risk\text{exposed} - Risk\text{unexposed}.

Relative Risk (RR)

The ratio of the risk of disease in the exposed group to the risk in the unexposed group.

Counterfactual Basis

The concept of comparing what did happen under exposure versus what would have happened without exposure to establish causal relationships.

Causal Effect Measures

Quantitative assessments that contrast risks or rates between exposed and unexposed scenarios to define causal relations.

Attributable Fraction (AF)

The proportion of risk within a population that is attributable to a certain exposure, which provides insight into the impact of that exposure.

Life Tables

A statistical table that shows the probability of death and survival based on age, used to analyze mortality and survival rates.

Surveillance

The ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data for the purpose of public health practice.

Odds Ratio (OR)

A measure of association between an exposure and an outcome, often used in case-control studies, comparing the odds of exposure among cases to the odds among controls.

Case-Control Study

An observational study comparing individuals with a disease (cases) to those without (controls) to examine past exposures.

Cohort Study

An observational study that follows exposed and unexposed groups over time to compare disease incidence rates.

Confounding

A distortion of an observed association between an exposure and an outcome caused by a third factor associated with both, but not in the causal pathway.