Chapter Two

• Burden of disease


  A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries; specifically it measures the gap between current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and disability
• DALY


  A unit used to measure burden of disease
• Chronic conditions


  Any disease or condition that lasts a long time (usually longer than six months); it usually can't be cured and therefore requires ongoing treatment and management
• Chronic conditions


  • Arthritis
  • Asthma
• Core activities


  Three main areas of life: self-care, mobility and communication
• Core activity limitation


  When an individual has difficulty, or requires assistance, with any of the three core activities
• Dermatitis


  A range of conditions characterised by irritation and/or inflammation of the skin; it usually involves itchy, dry skin or a rash on swollen, reddened skin
• Disability adjusted life years (DALY)


  A measure of burden of disease; one DALY is equal to one year of healthy life lost due to illness and/or death; DALY are calculated as the sum of the years of life lost due to premature death and the years lived with disability for people living with the health condition or its consequences
• Health indicators


  Standard statistics that are used to measure and compare health status
• Health status


  An individual's or a population's overall health (and wellbeing), taking into account various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk factors
• Hospital separations


  Episodes of hospital care that start with admission and end at transfer, discharge or death
• Incidence


  The number (or rate) of new cases of a disease/condition in a population during a given period
• Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)


  A scale of psychological distress based on the answers to ten questions about negative emotional and mental states in the four weeks prior to the interview; this system classifies psychological distress as low, moderate, high and very high
• Life expectancy


  The number of years of life, on average, remaining to an individual at a particular age if death rates do not change; the most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth
• Morbidity


  Ill health in an individual and levels of ill health within a population (often expressed through incidence, prevalence)
• Mortality


  The number of deaths in a population in a given period
• Prevalence


  The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time
• Psychological distress


  Relates to unpleasant feelings and emotions that affect an individual's level of functioning
• Years lost due to disability (YLD)


  A measure of how many healthy years of life are lost due to disease, injury or disability
• Years of life lost (YLL)

  A measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death