HLTH 255 MIDTERM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) ALREADY GRADED A+
1) Describe actions that governments have taken to ensure that people
are safer and healthier today than people were 100 years ago.
Ans✓✓✓a. Provide pure water and efficient sewage disposal, ensure the
safety of food supply, and ensure quality of medical services through
hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions
What are the three core functions of public health? How do these
functions compare with the functions of medical care?
Ans✓✓✓Assessment, policy development and assurance
i. Assessment collect assemble, analyze and make information available
to the public
ii. Policy development: use of scientific knowledge to develop a
treatment plan
iii. Assurance; treatment of patients
Give an example of a measure that would benefit public health but that
might be expensive to implement. Who would benefit? Who would pay
the cost? Ans✓✓✓Restrictions of timber harvesting in the Pacific
Northwest,
i. Benefits: Decreased deforestation, contribute to a stable climate, and
preserve jobs in the tourist industry
ii. Who Cost: Cost jobs in the lumber industry and increase cost to the
consumer
,Give an example of a measure that would improve public health but that
might limit some people's freedom. Who would benefit? Whose freedom
would be limited? Ans✓✓✓Outlaw smoking in public places
i. Benefit: people in public environments that would not have to deal
with second hand smoke
ii. Limited freedom: smokers
Why is it important for nongovernmental organizations to be involved in
public health activities? Ans✓✓✓Lobbying, education and research, can
focus on a specific disease instead of having to focus on a bunch, can
provide funds for research
Why is epidemiologic surveillance important for public health?
Ans✓✓✓Reporting of notifiable diseases allows health authorities to
detect emerging epidemics at an early stage
Ex. TB, Syphilis, and Measles
What is the difference between incidence and prevalence? Why is
incidence more useful in identifying the cause of a disease? When is it
most useful to use prevalence? Ans✓✓✓a. Incidence: rate of new cases
of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time
-Measures probability
-Predicting if someone will get more sick
b. Prevalence: Total number of cases existing in a defined population at
a specific time
, -Identifying societal impact and developing healthcare services
1) Why are the who, when, and where questions useful in determining
the causes of disease? Give examples. Ans✓✓✓a. Who: looks at
demographics
-Ex: chickenpox occurs more in children than adults
b. Where: looks at trends and disease frequency
-fluoride in water and where there is less cavities
c. When: helps with tracking epi curves and calculating incubation
periods
-Ex: lesioneres disease, from the curve, most victims were infected at
the same time which leads to the conclusion they were infected from the
same source
What are strengths and weaknesses of each of the major types of
epidemiologic study? Ans✓✓✓a. Case-control
-Strength: cheaper, used a lot for foodborne illness
-Weakness: Hard to match control groups to case groups, recall
problems with recalling things that have already happened in the past
b. Cohort
-Strengths: most accurate
-Weakness: participant bias, and can be expensive
c. Randomized control
-Strengths: Can manipulate a variable
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) ALREADY GRADED A+
1) Describe actions that governments have taken to ensure that people
are safer and healthier today than people were 100 years ago.
Ans✓✓✓a. Provide pure water and efficient sewage disposal, ensure the
safety of food supply, and ensure quality of medical services through
hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions
What are the three core functions of public health? How do these
functions compare with the functions of medical care?
Ans✓✓✓Assessment, policy development and assurance
i. Assessment collect assemble, analyze and make information available
to the public
ii. Policy development: use of scientific knowledge to develop a
treatment plan
iii. Assurance; treatment of patients
Give an example of a measure that would benefit public health but that
might be expensive to implement. Who would benefit? Who would pay
the cost? Ans✓✓✓Restrictions of timber harvesting in the Pacific
Northwest,
i. Benefits: Decreased deforestation, contribute to a stable climate, and
preserve jobs in the tourist industry
ii. Who Cost: Cost jobs in the lumber industry and increase cost to the
consumer
,Give an example of a measure that would improve public health but that
might limit some people's freedom. Who would benefit? Whose freedom
would be limited? Ans✓✓✓Outlaw smoking in public places
i. Benefit: people in public environments that would not have to deal
with second hand smoke
ii. Limited freedom: smokers
Why is it important for nongovernmental organizations to be involved in
public health activities? Ans✓✓✓Lobbying, education and research, can
focus on a specific disease instead of having to focus on a bunch, can
provide funds for research
Why is epidemiologic surveillance important for public health?
Ans✓✓✓Reporting of notifiable diseases allows health authorities to
detect emerging epidemics at an early stage
Ex. TB, Syphilis, and Measles
What is the difference between incidence and prevalence? Why is
incidence more useful in identifying the cause of a disease? When is it
most useful to use prevalence? Ans✓✓✓a. Incidence: rate of new cases
of a disease in a defined population over a defined period of time
-Measures probability
-Predicting if someone will get more sick
b. Prevalence: Total number of cases existing in a defined population at
a specific time
, -Identifying societal impact and developing healthcare services
1) Why are the who, when, and where questions useful in determining
the causes of disease? Give examples. Ans✓✓✓a. Who: looks at
demographics
-Ex: chickenpox occurs more in children than adults
b. Where: looks at trends and disease frequency
-fluoride in water and where there is less cavities
c. When: helps with tracking epi curves and calculating incubation
periods
-Ex: lesioneres disease, from the curve, most victims were infected at
the same time which leads to the conclusion they were infected from the
same source
What are strengths and weaknesses of each of the major types of
epidemiologic study? Ans✓✓✓a. Case-control
-Strength: cheaper, used a lot for foodborne illness
-Weakness: Hard to match control groups to case groups, recall
problems with recalling things that have already happened in the past
b. Cohort
-Strengths: most accurate
-Weakness: participant bias, and can be expensive
c. Randomized control
-Strengths: Can manipulate a variable
