Four women ask for a copper IUCD at a PHC family planning clinic. Which of them is the most suitable candidate?

Para 1, regular periods, one sexual partner

Para 1, treated for acute PID last month

Nulligravida, several sexual partners

Para 2, heavy irregular bleeding for a year

A planning officer ranks the blocks of a district using the Physical Quality of Life Index. Which three indicators make up this index?

Infant mortality, life expectancy at age one, literacy

Life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, income

Maternal mortality, infant mortality, literacy

Life expectancy at birth, schooling, income per head

Demography, health indicators and family planning

30 NEET-PG practice questions on Demography, health indicators and family planning, part of Community Medicine. The first 25 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
In a trial of a new contraceptive, 200 women each use the method for 18 months, giving 3,600 woman-months of exposure, and 6 accidental pregnancies occur. What is the Pearl index of the method?
1. A3 per 100 woman-years
2. B36 per 100 woman-years
3. C0.17 per 100 woman-years
4. D2 per 100 woman-years
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Answer: D · 2 per 100 woman-years
The Pearl index is the number of accidental pregnancies x 1,200, divided by the total months of exposure, giving failures per 100 woman-years. Here it is 6 x 1,200 / 3,600 = 2 per 100 woman-years. The factor 1,200 is 100 women x 12 months. Its weakness is that failure rates fall the longer a method is used, so life-table analysis gives a fairer comparison of methods.
- A: 3 is pregnancies per 100 women, which ignores the 18 months of use.
- B: 36 comes from dividing by the number of women instead of the months.
- C: 0.17 comes from using 100 instead of 1,200 in the formula.
Question 2 · Easy
A 30-year-old married long-distance truck driver attends the ICTC of a district hospital after a negative HIV test. He has sex with partners other than his wife during his trips and wants a contraceptive that also protects against sexually transmitted infections. Which method should be advised?
1. ACopper IUCD for his wife
2. BMale condom (Nirodh)
3. COral pills for his wife
4. DNo-scalpel vasectomy
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Answer: B · Male condom (Nirodh)
The condom is the only method that both prevents pregnancy and protects against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, hepatitis B and gonorrhoea, so it gives dual protection. Under the national programme it is supplied free as Nirodh and through social marketing. Vasectomy, the IUCD and oral pills prevent pregnancy but give no protection against STIs, and he could still infect his wife. He should be counselled to use a condom correctly with every act and to reduce partners.
- A: An IUCD gives no protection against STIs and may worsen pelvic infection.
- C: Oral pills give no protection against STIs.
- D: Vasectomy prevents pregnancy but not sexually transmitted infections.
Question 3 · Medium
Four women ask for a copper IUCD at a PHC family planning clinic. Which of them is the most suitable candidate?
1. APara 1, treated for acute PID last month
2. BPara 1, regular periods, one sexual partner
3. CNulligravida, several sexual partners
4. DPara 2, heavy irregular bleeding for a year
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Answer: B · Para 1, regular periods, one sexual partner
Park describes the ideal IUCD user as a woman who has borne at least one child, has no history of pelvic disease, has normal menstrual periods, is willing to check the tail, can return for follow-up and is in a monogamous relationship. Multiple partners raise the risk of sexually transmitted infection and pelvic inflammatory disease after insertion. Unexplained abnormal bleeding must be investigated first, because it may hide pathology and the IUCD increases menstrual loss. Recent or current PID is a reason to delay insertion until the infection has resolved and the risk is reassessed.
- A: Recent PID makes her a poor candidate at present.
- C: Multiple partners raise the risk of STI and PID with an IUCD.
- D: Unexplained heavy bleeding must be investigated before an IUCD.
Question 4 · Easy
A medical student preparing a community diagnosis notes that India's death rate has fallen steeply, its birth rate is also falling but is still above the death rate, and the population therefore continues to grow. In which stage of the demographic cycle does Park place India?
1. AFifth stage: declining
2. BThird stage: late expanding
3. CSecond stage: early expanding
4. DFourth stage: low stationary
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Answer: B · Third stage: late expanding
The demographic cycle has five stages: high stationary (high birth and death rates), early expanding (death rate falls, birth rate stays high), late expanding (death rate falls further and birth rate starts to fall but stays higher), low stationary (both low) and declining (births fewer than deaths). India, with a falling birth rate still above a low death rate, is placed in the late expanding stage. Population growth continues because of the gap between the two rates and the large number of young couples (population momentum). Many developed countries are in the low stationary stage and some, such as several in Europe, in the declining stage.
- A: Declining means births are fewer than deaths, which is not true of India.
- C: Early expanding is when the birth rate has not yet started to fall.
- D: Low stationary needs both birth and death rates to be low and close together.
Question 5 · Easy
A planning officer ranks the blocks of a district using the Physical Quality of Life Index. Which three indicators make up this index?
1. AInfant mortality, life expectancy at age one, literacy
2. BLife expectancy at birth, infant mortality, income
3. CMaternal mortality, infant mortality, literacy
4. DLife expectancy at birth, schooling, income per head
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Answer: A · Infant mortality, life expectancy at age one, literacy
The PQLI combines infant mortality, life expectancy at age one and literacy, each scaled from 0 to 100, and averages them into a single score from 0 to 100. It deliberately leaves out income, so it measures the results of social development rather than wealth. Life expectancy at age one is used rather than at birth so that infant deaths are not counted twice. The Human Development Index, by contrast, uses life expectancy at birth, education (mean and expected years of schooling) and income per head.
- B: PQLI does not include income, and uses life expectancy at age one.
- C: Maternal mortality is not a component of the PQLI.
- D: These are the dimensions of the Human Development Index.
Question 6 · Medium
For a district health plan, the medical officer estimates the burden of road traffic injuries in one year. Twenty deaths cause an average loss of 30 years of life each, and 100 survivors live with a disability (disability weight 0.2) for an average of 10 years each. Ignoring discounting and age weighting, how many disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost?
1. A1,600
2. B600
3. C800
4. D200
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Medium
A 30-year-old para 3 delivered vaginally 2 days ago at a Community Health Centre and asks for permanent sterilisation before she goes home. She is afebrile and her haemoglobin is 11 g/dL. Which procedure is appropriate at this time?
1. AHysteroscopic tubal occlusion
2. BLaparoscopic tubal ring application
3. CMinilaparotomy tubectomy
4. DAbdominal hysterectomy
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Medium
A district introduces a contraceptive whose Pearl index in field use is 4 per 100 woman-years. If 500 women use it for 2 years each, about how many accidental pregnancies should the programme expect?
1. A4
2. B20
3. C80
4. D40
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Hard
A state survey reports these age-specific fertility rates (live births per 1,000 women per year) for the 5-year age groups from 15-19 to 45-49: 40, 150, 120, 60, 20, 8 and 2. What is the total fertility rate of the state?
1. A2.0 children per woman
2. B2.8 children per woman
3. C1.0 children per woman
4. D0.4 children per woman
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Medium
A district health officer compares two districts of the same state. District P, with many elderly people, has a crude death rate of 9 per 1,000, while District Q, with a young population, has a crude death rate of 6 per 1,000. He wants to know whether mortality is truly higher in District P. Which measure should he compare?
1. ACase fatality rates
2. BCrude death rates as reported
3. CProportional mortality rates
4. DAge-standardised death rates
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Medium
A 24-year-old mother who is exclusively breastfeeding her 7-week-old baby asks the PHC medical officer for a daily contraceptive pill. She has no medical illness. Which pill is most appropriate for her?
1. ACombined pill (Mala-N)
2. BLevonorgestrel 1.5 mg after each act
3. CLow-dose 20 µg oestrogen pill
4. DProgestogen-only pill
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Medium
A PG student wants to know how the Sample Registration System produces the annual birth, death and infant mortality rates for each state. Which feature defines the SRS method?
1. AContinuous recording matched with a half-yearly survey
2. BMonthly reports from all government health facilities
3. CHouse listing once every ten years in the census
4. DInterviews of women every few years in a survey
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Medium
In a household survey in Uttar Pradesh, a 26-year-old married woman with one child says she would like her next child after at least 2 years. She is fecund and sexually active, and neither she nor her husband uses any contraceptive method. How is she classified?
1. AUnmet need for spacing
2. BNo need for family planning
3. CMet need for spacing
4. DUnmet need for limiting
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Easy
A 22-year-old newly married woman collects her first cycle of Mala-N combined oral pills from the ASHA at a sub-centre in Jharkhand. She asks the ANM how the pill stops her from becoming pregnant. What is its main mechanism of action?
1. ASuppression of ovulation
2. BMaking the endometrium unreceptive
3. CKilling sperm in the vagina
4. DThickening of cervical mucus
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Medium
A state health mission sets its 2030 goals in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3. Consider these targets: 1. Maternal mortality ratio below 70 per 1,00,000 live births. 2. Neonatal mortality at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births. 3. Infant mortality below 10 per 1,000 live births. 4. Under-5 mortality at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births. Which of these are SDG 3 targets?
1. A2, 3 and 4 only
2. B1, 2 and 4 only
3. C1 and 4 only
4. D3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Medium
A life table for a tribal district with a high infant mortality rate shows a life expectancy at birth of 64 years and a life expectancy at age one of 67 years. What best explains why the expectancy at age one is higher?
1. AOlder adults misreport their ages
2. BInfant deaths pull down expectancy at birth
3. CFertility is high in the tribal population
4. DYoung adults migrate out of the district
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 17 · Easy
A state health officer preparing a presentation compares states using the Sample Registration System special bulletins on maternal mortality. Which state has consistently reported the lowest maternal mortality ratio in these recent bulletins?
1. AUttar Pradesh
2. BAssam
3. CKerala
4. DMadhya Pradesh
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 18 · Medium
During counselling at an urban PHC, a 28-year-old woman starting the combined oral pill asks about its effects beyond contraception. The medical officer considers four statements: 1. It lowers the risk of ovarian cancer. 2. It lowers the risk of breast cancer. 3. It lowers the risk of endometrial cancer. 4. It reduces menstrual blood loss and iron-deficiency anaemia. Which statements are correct?
1. A1, 2 and 3 only
2. B1, 3 and 4 only
3. C1 and 3 only
4. D2 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 19 · Medium
A house-to-house survey in a district of Haryana counts 5,400 boys and 4,860 girls aged 0-6 years, and 2,10,000 males and 1,95,300 females of all ages. What is the child sex ratio of the district?
1. A474 girls per 1,000 children
2. B930 girls per 1,000 boys
3. C1,111 boys per 1,000 girls
4. D900 girls per 1,000 boys
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 20 · Hard
A district reports, for one year, 5,000 live births, 75 stillbirths at 28 weeks or more, 20 fetal deaths at 22-27 weeks, 60 neonatal deaths in the first 7 days and 25 neonatal deaths on days 8-28. Using the definition that counts late fetal deaths and deaths in the first week of life per 1,000 live births, what is the perinatal mortality rate?
1. A32 per 1,000
2. B27 per 1,000
3. C31 per 1,000
4. D19 per 1,000
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 21 · Hard
A PHC area with a population of 30,000 has 5,400 eligible couples. During review, 1,500 couples are protected by sterilisation, 600 by copper IUCD, and 324 are counted as effectively protected by condoms and oral pills. What is the couple protection rate, and how does it compare with the level Park cites as needed for a net reproduction rate of 1?
1. AAbout 45%, below the 60% needed
2. BAbout 8%, below the 60% needed
3. CAbout 45%, above the 40% needed
4. DAbout 39%, below the 60% needed
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 22 · Hard
Two blocks each have a population of 1,00,000 and recorded 2,000 live births last year, so both report a crude birth rate of 20 per 1,000. Block X has 20,000 women aged 15-49 years, while Block Y, which has received many young migrant families, has 28,000. Which block has the higher fertility, judged by the general fertility rate?
1. ANeither, as both CBRs are 20 per 1,000
2. BBlock X, GFR 100 per 1,000 women
3. CBlock X, GFR 20 per 1,000 women
4. DBlock Y, which has more women aged 15-49
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 23 · Easy
The labour room register of a district hospital for one year records 6,000 live births and 90 babies born dead after 28 weeks of gestation. The medical officer must report the stillbirth rate. Which denominator should she use?
1. ALive births only
2. BWomen aged 15-49 years
3. CTotal births, live and still
4. DMid-year district population
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 24 · Medium
In a block of Madhya Pradesh in 2025 there were 4,000 live births and 60 stillbirths. During the year, 120 infants died before their first birthday; 80 of them died within the first 28 days of life, 50 of these in the first week. What is the infant mortality rate of the block?
1. A29.6 per 1,000 total births
2. B10 per 1,000 live births
3. C20 per 1,000 live births
4. D30 per 1,000 live births
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 25 · Hard
A district has a crude birth rate of 22 per 1,000 and a crude death rate of 8 per 1,000, and migration is negligible. If this growth rate continues, about how long will its population take to double?
1. A71 years
2. B32 years
3. C50 years
4. D5 years
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

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Demography, health indicators and family planning

In a trial of a new contraceptive, 200 women each use the method for 18 months, giving 3,600 woman-months of exposure, and 6 accidental pregnancies occur. What is the Pearl index of the method?

A 30-year-old married long-distance truck driver attends the ICTC of a district hospital after a negative HIV test. He has sex with partners other than his wife during his trips and wants a contraceptive that also protects against sexually transmitted infections. Which method should be advised?

Four women ask for a copper IUCD at a PHC family planning clinic. Which of them is the most suitable candidate?

A medical student preparing a community diagnosis notes that India's death rate has fallen steeply, its birth rate is also falling but is still above the death rate, and the population therefore continues to grow. In which stage of the demographic cycle does Park place India?

A planning officer ranks the blocks of a district using the Physical Quality of Life Index. Which three indicators make up this index?

A 30-year-old para 3 delivered vaginally 2 days ago at a Community Health Centre and asks for permanent sterilisation before she goes home. She is afebrile and her haemoglobin is 11 g/dL. Which procedure is appropriate at this time?

A district introduces a contraceptive whose Pearl index in field use is 4 per 100 woman-years. If 500 women use it for 2 years each, about how many accidental pregnancies should the programme expect?

A state survey reports these age-specific fertility rates (live births per 1,000 women per year) for the 5-year age groups from 15-19 to 45-49: 40, 150, 120, 60, 20, 8 and 2. What is the total fertility rate of the state?

A 24-year-old mother who is exclusively breastfeeding her 7-week-old baby asks the PHC medical officer for a daily contraceptive pill. She has no medical illness. Which pill is most appropriate for her?

A PG student wants to know how the Sample Registration System produces the annual birth, death and infant mortality rates for each state. Which feature defines the SRS method?

In a household survey in Uttar Pradesh, a 26-year-old married woman with one child says she would like her next child after at least 2 years. She is fecund and sexually active, and neither she nor her husband uses any contraceptive method. How is she classified?

A 22-year-old newly married woman collects her first cycle of Mala-N combined oral pills from the ASHA at a sub-centre in Jharkhand. She asks the ANM how the pill stops her from becoming pregnant. What is its main mechanism of action?

A life table for a tribal district with a high infant mortality rate shows a life expectancy at birth of 64 years and a life expectancy at age one of 67 years. What best explains why the expectancy at age one is higher?

A state health officer preparing a presentation compares states using the Sample Registration System special bulletins on maternal mortality. Which state has consistently reported the lowest maternal mortality ratio in these recent bulletins?

A house-to-house survey in a district of Haryana counts 5,400 boys and 4,860 girls aged 0-6 years, and 2,10,000 males and 1,95,300 females of all ages. What is the child sex ratio of the district?

The labour room register of a district hospital for one year records 6,000 live births and 90 babies born dead after 28 weeks of gestation. The medical officer must report the stillbirth rate. Which denominator should she use?

In a block of Madhya Pradesh in 2025 there were 4,000 live births and 60 stillbirths. During the year, 120 infants died before their first birthday; 80 of them died within the first 28 days of life, 50 of these in the first week. What is the infant mortality rate of the block?

A district has a crude birth rate of 22 per 1,000 and a crude death rate of 8 per 1,000, and migration is negligible. If this growth rate continues, about how long will its population take to double?