A school programme teaches 10-year-olds healthy eating and daily exercise in a community where obesity and hypertension are still uncommon. This is an example of:

Primary prevention by specific protection

Infant mortality rate is calculated as the number of deaths under one year of age in a year per:

1,000 live births in the same year

100,000 live births in the same year

1,000 live births and stillbirths

In the 'iceberg phenomenon' of disease, the submerged part of the iceberg represents:

Unrecognised subclinical and undiagnosed cases

Cases notified to the health authority

Deaths recorded in the vital statistics

Cases seen and treated by clinicians

In the epidemiological triad, disease is explained as the result of interaction between:

Host, carrier and portal of entry

Epidemiology, health indicators and statistics

18 AIIMS NORCET (Nursing Officer) practice questions on Epidemiology, health indicators and statistics, part of Community Health Nursing. The first 18 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Medium
Which indicator gives the average number of children a woman would bear in her lifetime if current age-specific fertility rates continued?
1. ACrude birth rate
2. BGeneral fertility rate
3. CTotal fertility rate
4. DNet reproduction rate
Show answerHide answer
Answer: C · Total fertility rate
The total fertility rate sums the age-specific fertility rates across the reproductive years, giving the average completed family size per woman. A TFR of about 2.1 is called replacement level, as it allows for some child deaths. It is the main indicator used to follow population stabilisation goals in India. Other fertility rates use a population denominator and do not give children per woman.
- A: Crude birth rate is live births per 1,000 mid-year population.
- B: General fertility rate is live births per 1,000 women aged 15-49 in a year.
- D: Net reproduction rate counts daughters only, allowing for mortality.
Question 2 · Medium
A school programme teaches 10-year-olds healthy eating and daily exercise in a community where obesity and hypertension are still uncommon. This is an example of:
1. APrimary prevention by specific protection
2. BSecondary prevention
3. CTertiary prevention
4. DPrimordial prevention
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D · Primordial prevention
Primordial prevention aims to stop risk factors such as obesity, smoking and inactivity from emerging in a population where they have not yet appeared. It works mainly through health education of children, because lifestyles form early. Primary prevention acts on people already exposed to a risk factor, before disease begins. Prevention of adult non-communicable diseases is the main use of the primordial level.
- A: Specific protection means measures against a named disease, such as a vaccine.
- B: Secondary prevention detects existing disease early, for example by screening.
- C: Tertiary prevention limits disability once disease is established.
Question 3 · Easy
Infant mortality rate is calculated as the number of deaths under one year of age in a year per:
1. A1,000 mid-year population
2. B100,000 live births in the same year
3. C1,000 live births in the same year
4. D1,000 live births and stillbirths
Show answerHide answer
Answer: C · 1,000 live births in the same year
Infant mortality rate is infant deaths in a year divided by live births in the same year, multiplied by 1,000. Live births form the denominator because only a live-born baby can die as an infant. It is one of the most sensitive indicators of a community's health and living conditions. Stillbirths enter the perinatal mortality rate, not the IMR.
- A: Mid-year population is the denominator of crude rates such as crude death rate.
- B: Per 100,000 live births is the base used for the maternal mortality ratio.
- D: Stillbirths are added to live births only for perinatal mortality and stillbirth rates.
Question 4 · Medium
In the 'iceberg phenomenon' of disease, the submerged part of the iceberg represents:
1. AUnrecognised subclinical and undiagnosed cases
2. BCases notified to the health authority
3. CDeaths recorded in the vital statistics
4. DCases seen and treated by clinicians
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A · Unrecognised subclinical and undiagnosed cases
The tip of the iceberg is the disease a clinician sees: clinical cases that reach care. The larger hidden mass is made up of subclinical infections, carriers and undiagnosed cases in the community. This hidden part is what epidemiologists and community nurses look for, and screening brings it to light. Diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis show a large submerged part.
- B: Notified cases are known to the system and lie above the waterline.
- C: Recorded deaths are a small visible fraction of disease.
- D: Cases seen by clinicians form the visible tip, not the hidden part.
Question 5 · Easy
In the epidemiological triad, disease is explained as the result of interaction between:
1. AHost, carrier and portal of entry
2. BTime, place and person
3. CAgent, host and environment
4. DAgent, vector and reservoir
Show answerHide answer
Answer: C · Agent, host and environment
The epidemiological triad holds that disease follows an interaction of an agent, a susceptible host and an environment that brings them together. A change in any one of the three can upset the balance and cause disease. Control measures can act on any arm, for example vaccinating the host or making water safe. Time, place and person are the variables of descriptive epidemiology, not the triad.
- A: Carrier and portal of entry are links in the chain of infection.
- B: Time, place and person describe the distribution of disease in descriptive studies.
- D: Vector and reservoir are parts of the chain of transmission, not the triad.
Question 6 · Easy
A nurse gives measles-rubella vaccine to a healthy 9-month-old at an outreach session. Which level of prevention is this?
1. ASecondary prevention by early diagnosis
2. BPrimordial prevention of risk factors
3. CTertiary prevention by disability limitation
4. DPrimary prevention by specific protection
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Hard
A child brings measles into a household of six. Both parents had measles in childhood; the other four children are unvaccinated. Within the next two weeks two of them develop measles, and a third falls ill four weeks later. What is the secondary attack rate?
1. A50%
2. B40%
3. C75%
4. D60%
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Medium
As defined in India, the perinatal mortality rate counts which deaths?
1. AStillbirths from 28 weeks and deaths in the first 7 days
2. BAll deaths of infants under one year of age
3. CStillbirths from 20 weeks and deaths in the first 28 days
4. DDeaths of live-born babies in the first 28 days
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Medium
A positive result on a test leads to a costly and risky treatment, so false positives must be kept to a minimum. Which property should the test have?
1. AHigh negative predictive value
2. BHigh specificity
3. CHigh sensitivity
4. DLow cost per test
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Medium
The case fatality rate of a disease mainly reflects:
1. AHow quickly it spreads among contacts
2. BThe killing power of the disease
3. CThe risk of death from it in the whole population
4. DHow common the disease is in the population
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Medium
A new drug prolongs the life of patients with a chronic disease but does not cure it. If the incidence stays the same, the prevalence of the disease will:
1. AIncrease
2. BFall to zero
3. CDecrease
4. DStay unchanged
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Easy
By the WHO definition used in India, a maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within how many days of the end of the pregnancy?
1. A365 days
2. B42 days
3. C28 days
4. D7 days
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Medium
A screening test with unchanged sensitivity and specificity is moved from a hospital clinic to the general population, where the disease is much rarer. Its positive predictive value will:
1. ARise
2. BFall
3. CStay the same
4. DBecome equal to sensitivity
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Hard
In one year a PHC area with a mid-year population of 1,00,000 records 2,500 live births, 25 stillbirths and 75 deaths of infants under one year, 45 of them in the first 28 days. What is the infant mortality rate?
1. A18 per 1,000 live births
2. B30 per 1,000 live births
3. C29.7 per 1,000 total births
4. D0.75 per 1,000 population
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Easy
The sensitivity of a screening test is the proportion of:
1. APeople with the disease who test positive
2. BPeople without the disease who test negative
3. CPositive results that are true positives
4. DNegative results that are true negatives
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Medium
In Indian census and vital statistics reports, the sex ratio is expressed as:
1. AMales per 1,000 females
2. BFemale births per 1,000 live births
3. CFemales per 1,000 males
4. DMales per 100 females
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 17 · Hard
A test for a disease was applied to 1,000 people: 100 truly had the disease and 90 of them tested positive; of the 900 without it, 45 tested positive. What is the positive predictive value of the test?
1. A98.8%
2. B66.7%
3. C90.0%
4. D95.0%
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 18 · Hard
A village survey counts 2,800 people aged 0-14 years, 6,400 aged 15-64 years and 800 aged 65 years and over. What is the total dependency ratio?
1. A36.0 per 100
2. B56.3 per 100
3. C64.0 per 100
4. D43.8 per 100
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

Epidemiology, health indicators and statistics

Which indicator gives the average number of children a woman would bear in her lifetime if current age-specific fertility rates continued?

A school programme teaches 10-year-olds healthy eating and daily exercise in a community where obesity and hypertension are still uncommon. This is an example of:

Infant mortality rate is calculated as the number of deaths under one year of age in a year per:

In the 'iceberg phenomenon' of disease, the submerged part of the iceberg represents:

In the epidemiological triad, disease is explained as the result of interaction between:

A nurse gives measles-rubella vaccine to a healthy 9-month-old at an outreach session. Which level of prevention is this?

A child brings measles into a household of six. Both parents had measles in childhood; the other four children are unvaccinated. Within the next two weeks two of them develop measles, and a third falls ill four weeks later. What is the secondary attack rate?

As defined in India, the perinatal mortality rate counts which deaths?

A positive result on a test leads to a costly and risky treatment, so false positives must be kept to a minimum. Which property should the test have?

The case fatality rate of a disease mainly reflects:

A new drug prolongs the life of patients with a chronic disease but does not cure it. If the incidence stays the same, the prevalence of the disease will:

By the WHO definition used in India, a maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within how many days of the end of the pregnancy?

A screening test with unchanged sensitivity and specificity is moved from a hospital clinic to the general population, where the disease is much rarer. Its positive predictive value will:

In one year a PHC area with a mid-year population of 1,00,000 records 2,500 live births, 25 stillbirths and 75 deaths of infants under one year, 45 of them in the first 28 days. What is the infant mortality rate?

The sensitivity of a screening test is the proportion of:

In Indian census and vital statistics reports, the sex ratio is expressed as:

A test for a disease was applied to 1,000 people: 100 truly had the disease and 90 of them tested positive; of the 900 without it, 45 tested positive. What is the positive predictive value of the test?

A village survey counts 2,800 people aged 0-14 years, 6,400 aged 15-64 years and 800 aged 65 years and over. What is the total dependency ratio?