All Topics  
Prevention (medical)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Prevention (medical)
 
 
  Topics Prevention (medical) Topic Home

In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, prevention is any activity which reduces the burden of mortality or morbidity from disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
. This takes place at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels.

  1. Primary prevention avoids the development of a disease. Most population-based health promotion
    Health promotion

    Health promotion has been defined by the 2005 Bangkok Charter as "the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health"....
     activities are primary preventive measures.
  2. Secondary prevention activities are aimed at early disease detection, thereby increasing opportunities for interventions to prevent progression of the disease and emergence of symptom
    Symptom

    A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality. A symptom is subjective, observed by the patient, and not measured....
    s.
  3. Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already established disease by restoring function and reducing disease-related complications.


Gordon (1987) in the area of disease prevention, and later Kumpfer and Baxley (1997) in the area of substance use proposed a three-tiered preventive intervention classification system: universal, selective and indicated prevention.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Prevention (medical)'
Start a new discussion about 'Prevention (medical)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, prevention is any activity which reduces the burden of mortality or morbidity from disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
. This takes place at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels.

  1. Primary prevention avoids the development of a disease. Most population-based health promotion
    Health promotion

    Health promotion has been defined by the 2005 Bangkok Charter as "the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health"....
     activities are primary preventive measures.
  2. Secondary prevention activities are aimed at early disease detection, thereby increasing opportunities for interventions to prevent progression of the disease and emergence of symptom
    Symptom

    A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality. A symptom is subjective, observed by the patient, and not measured....
    s.
  3. Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already established disease by restoring function and reducing disease-related complications.


Gordon (1987) in the area of disease prevention, and later Kumpfer and Baxley (1997) in the area of substance use proposed a three-tiered preventive intervention classification system: universal, selective and indicated prevention. Amongst others, this typology has gained favour and is used by the US Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine

The Institute of Medicine , one of the United States National Academies, is a Non-profit organization, non-governmental United States organization chartered in 1970 as a part of the United States National Academy of Sciences....
, the NIDA
Nida

Nida or NIDA may refer to:*Nida River in Poland*Nida, Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship *Nida, Lithuania, a town*Eugene Nida, linguistics and translation scholar...
 and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1993, the EMCDDA is located in Lisbon, Portugal....
.

  1. Universal prevention addresses the entire population (national, local community, school, district) and aim to prevent or delay the abuse of alcohol
    Alcohol abuse

    Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. It is differentiated from alcohol dependence by the lack of symptoms such as Drug tolerance and withdrawal....
    , tobacco, and other drugs
    Drug abuse

    Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect....
    . All individuals, without screening, are provided with information and skills necessary to prevent the problem.
  2. Selective prevention focuses on groups whose risk of developing problems of alcohol abuse or dependence is above average. The subgroups may be distinguished by characteristics such as age, gender, family history, or economic status. For example, drug campaigns in recreational settings.
  3. Indicated prevention involves a screening process, and aims to identify individuals who exhibit early signs of substance abuse and other problem behaviours. Identifiers may include falling grades among students, known problem consumption or conduct disorder
    Conduct disorder

    Conduct disorder is a psychiatric category to describe a pattern of repetitive behaviour where the rights of others or the current social norms are violated....
    s, alienation from parents, school, and positive peer groups etc.


Outside the scope of this three-tier model is Environmental prevention. Environmental prevention approaches are typically managed at the regulatory or community level, and focus on interventions to deter drug consumption. Prohibition and bans (e.g. smoking workplace bans
Smoking ban

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibitionism tobacco smoking in employments and/or other public spaces....
, alcohol advertising bans
Alcohol advertising

Alcohol advertising is the advertising of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of mass media. Along with tobacco advertising, it is one of the most advertising regulation forms of marketing....
) may be viewed as the ultimate environmental restriction. However, in practice environmental preventions programmes embrace various initiatives at the macro and micro level, from government monopolies for alcohol sales, through roadside sobriety or drug tests, worker/pupil/student drug testing, increased policing in sensitive settings (near schools, at rock festivals), and legislative guidelines aimed at precipitating punishments (warnings, penalties, fines).

See also

  • Preventive medicine
    Preventive medicine

    Preventive medicine or preventive care is measures taken to prevent illness or injury, rather than curing them. This type of care is best exemplified by hand washing and immunizations....
  • Risk factor
    Risk factor

    A risk factor is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. Risk factors are Correlation and not necessarily Causality, because correlation does not imply causation....
  • Your Disease Risk
    Your Disease Risk

    Your Disease Risk is one of the longest running, publicly available health risk assessments on the Internet. Launched in early 2000 and continually updated to the present time, the site offers risk assessments for twelve different cancers plus four other important chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and osteoporosis....


Sources and notes

  • Gordon, R. (1987), ‘An operational classification of disease prevention’, in Steinberg, J. A. and Silverman, M. M. (eds.), Preventing Mental Disorders, Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1987.
  • Kumpfer, K. L., and Baxley, G. B. (1997), 'Drug abuse prevention: What works?', National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville.