Public Health Levels of Prevention

Levels of Prevention

• Prevention is prioritized over treating illness in public health.
• Prevention is distinguished from clinical care, which focuses on treating the sick.
• Prevention initially focused on protecting healthy individuals, such as through vaccinations and improved diet.
• The concept of prevention broadened to encompass early diagnosis and treatment for sick individuals and diseases' spread control in the community.
• Prevention is now categorized into three levels, which is further differentiated later into five stages.

Levels of Prevention

• Four levels of prevention exist: primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primordial Prevention

• Aims to modify population health determinants to hinder the emergence of risk factors for future diseases.
• It addresses systemic factors rather than individual risk factors.
• Examples include alcohol prohibition, improving sanitation, and developing sustainable energy sources.

Primary Prevention

• Aims for early interventions during the pre-disease stage.
• This aims to prevent the exposure to disease agents, thus stopping the disease from beginning.
• Divided into two stages:
  • General health promotion: Focuses on healthy individuals across the entire population. Strategies include education, health guidelines, healthy lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, stress reduction, etc), and early childhood development programs.
  • Specific prophylaxis: Targets individuals susceptible to diseases through immunizations, vitamin supplements, and preventative measures (e.g., vehicle safety).

Secondary Prevention

• Addresses the latent stage when disease has started but remains asymptomatic.
• Prevention involves screening of high-risk populations to detect diseases early.
• This involves early detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
• Targets individuals or populations with elevated disease risk.
• Examples: screening tests like mammograms, blood tests, and Pap smears for high-risk groups.

Tertiary Prevention

• Occurs in the symptomatic stage when disease is evident.

• This phase aims to slow, halt, or reverse disease progression.

  • Initial care (disability limitation): This includes immediate medical and surgical interventions.
  • Subsequent care (rehabilitation): Focuses on restoring function and capacity, such as physical and occupational therapy.

• Target groups for tertiary prevention include sick patients and convalescent patients.

Modes of Intervention by Level of Prevention

Natural History of Disease

• Illustrates how different prevention levels correspond to disease progression stages.
• Primary prevention aims at the early stages before disease development.
• Secondary prevention acts during the asymptomatic/latent stage, aiming to identify and treat before disease progression.
• Tertiary prevention addresses symptomatic disease to limit further damage and rehabilitate to reduce long-term disabilities.

Explore the essential levels of prevention in public health, including primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches. Understand how prevention strategies are designed to protect populations and control disease spread, emphasizing health determinants over clinical treatment. Dive into the nuances of each prevention level and its implications for community health.