MEASURING DISEASE OCCURRENCE
,LESSON OBJECTIVES
❑ At the end of the lesson, students must be able to;
1. Define morbidity
2. Define mortality
3. Calculate and discuss measures related to disease morbidity and mortality
, INTRODUCTION
❑ Many different measures are used by researchers and p
makers to describe the health of populations.
❑ We are primarily interested in ‘health Back in 1948, the W
Health Organization (WHO, 1948) defined it as ‘ . . . a sta
physical, mental and social well-being and not only the absen
disease or infirmity.
❑ Lack of a particular disease does not necessarily imply ‘he
but simply a lack of the disease of interest.
, MEASURES OF HEALTH
❑ Indicators are required not only to measure the health status of a community, but also to c
the health status of one community or country with that of an other for assessment of hea
needs, for allocation of scarce resources, and for monitoring and evaluation of health se
activities and programmes.
❑ Indicators help to measure the extent to which the objectives and targets of a program
being attained. Indicators are often only an indication of a given situation or a reflection
situation at a given time. If measured over time, they can indicate direction and speed of
and serve to compare different areas or groups of people at the same moment in time.
❑ As people continue to live longer, the goal of survival is to live as long as possible in good
and free of disease. However, positive health cannot be defined in measurable terms
measurements of health have been framed in terms of illnesses (or lack of healt
consequences of ill health (morbidity, disability) and economic, occupational and domestic
that promote ill health and all the antitheses.
,LESSON OBJECTIVES
❑ At the end of the lesson, students must be able to;
1. Define morbidity
2. Define mortality
3. Calculate and discuss measures related to disease morbidity and mortality
, INTRODUCTION
❑ Many different measures are used by researchers and p
makers to describe the health of populations.
❑ We are primarily interested in ‘health Back in 1948, the W
Health Organization (WHO, 1948) defined it as ‘ . . . a sta
physical, mental and social well-being and not only the absen
disease or infirmity.
❑ Lack of a particular disease does not necessarily imply ‘he
but simply a lack of the disease of interest.
, MEASURES OF HEALTH
❑ Indicators are required not only to measure the health status of a community, but also to c
the health status of one community or country with that of an other for assessment of hea
needs, for allocation of scarce resources, and for monitoring and evaluation of health se
activities and programmes.
❑ Indicators help to measure the extent to which the objectives and targets of a program
being attained. Indicators are often only an indication of a given situation or a reflection
situation at a given time. If measured over time, they can indicate direction and speed of
and serve to compare different areas or groups of people at the same moment in time.
❑ As people continue to live longer, the goal of survival is to live as long as possible in good
and free of disease. However, positive health cannot be defined in measurable terms
measurements of health have been framed in terms of illnesses (or lack of healt
consequences of ill health (morbidity, disability) and economic, occupational and domestic
that promote ill health and all the antitheses.
