Population-based Health Surveys and Common Chronic Diseases

The course gives an introduction to population-based health surveys and common chronic diseases. A running theme in this course concerns the fact that knowledge about the population health is crucial for planning and overall policy development. The course deals with all phases in the execution of population-based health surveys, and emphasizes in addition methodological- and other challenges. An introduction to the prevalence of diseases, how they may vary over time and space, as well as along other markers is also given. The importance of lifestyles and other risk factors is also highlighted. The consequences of the distribution of diseases for mortality, morbidity, sickness as well as health services utilization is also treated in this course. Teaching will also include the disease burden framework (GBD) as well as WHO initiatives for improved population health, including initiatives for the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Upon completion of the course, the students will:
Knowledge
• Have in-depth knowledge about all the stages in population-based health surveys from planning to dissemination of results
• Have knowledge about challenges in conducting population-based health surveys
• Have knowledge about ethical and legal issues associated with population-based health surveys
• Have overview of the prevalence and development for major diseases affecting the population
• Have knowledge about medical and non-medical causes to, and consequences of common chronic diseases

Skills
• Is able to explain and clarify the data collection process in population-based health surveys (interviews, questionnaires, clinical examinations, taking biological samples)
• Is able to explain and clarify the importance of representativeness and potential causes for lack of representativeness in population-based health surveys
• Is able to clarify the importance of population-based health surveys as an important knowledge base for health services planning and general policy development
• Is able to describe the common chronic diseases
• Is familiar with national and international statistical resources about communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as mapping of the disease burden (GBD)
• Is familiar with disease burden measures utilized by WHO (Mortality, Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality, Years Lost due to Disability (YLD), Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY))

General competence
• Is able to critically evaluate strengths and weaknesses in previously conducted population –based health surveys
• Is able to explain and clarify the distribution and development of common chronic diseases along with its causes and consequences

Lectures.
1 day field trip to HUNT research center at Levanger. The course will be held in Trondheim.