Poverty and its relation to health outcomes MCQs With Answer

Understanding how poverty shapes health outcomes is essential for B.Pharm students who will design, dispense, and counsel on medicines in diverse populations. Poverty is a key social determinant of health, affecting nutrition, sanitation, access to medicines, health literacy, medication adherence, and exposure to infectious and chronic diseases. Financial barriers, poor housing, limited healthcare access, and environmental hazards alter pharmacotherapy effectiveness and increase adverse outcomes. Familiarity with concepts like health equity, pharmacoeconomics, universal health coverage, and social determinants enables pharmacists to advocate for vulnerable patients and design pragmatic interventions. This set of focused MCQs reinforces clinical and public health links between poverty and health outcomes. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. Which measure describes absolute poverty commonly used in global health?

• A relative comparison to median national income
• An income threshold below basic needs, e.g., $1.90/day
• The percentage of income spent on health
• A multidimensional poverty index based on education and housing

Correct Answer: An income threshold below basic needs, e.g., $1.90/day

Q2. Which term best describes non-medical factors like income, education, and housing that influence health?

• Pathophysiology
• Biomedical model
• Social determinants of health
• Pharmacodynamics

Correct Answer: Social determinants of health

Q3. How does overcrowding in low-income settings primarily increase infectious disease risk?

• By increasing genetic susceptibility
• By enhancing pathogen transmission through close contact
• By improving herd immunity
• By reducing vaccine efficacy

Correct Answer: By enhancing pathogen transmission through close contact

Q4. Protein-energy malnutrition in poverty most directly affects drug pharmacokinetics by:

• Increasing renal clearance uniformly for all drugs
• Altering plasma protein binding and hepatic metabolism
• Enhancing absorption of lipophilic drugs only
• Preventing drug absorption entirely

Correct Answer: Altering plasma protein binding and hepatic metabolism

Q5. The most common barrier to accessing essential medicines in impoverished communities is:

• Excessive local pharmaceutical manufacturing
• High out-of-pocket cost of medicines
• Too many generic options causing confusion
• Over-regulation reducing availability

Correct Answer: High out-of-pocket cost of medicines

Q6. Financial constraints in low-income patients most frequently lead to which medication-related behavior?

• Overuse of prescribed antibiotics
• Full adherence to complex regimens
• Skipping doses or not filling prescriptions
• Frequent switching between brand-name drugs

Correct Answer: Skipping doses or not filling prescriptions

Q7. Pharmacoeconomic analysis that compares costs and health outcomes (e.g., cost per QALY) is called:

• Drug interaction study
• Cost-effectiveness analysis
• Clinical pharmacokinetic modeling
• Randomized controlled trial

Correct Answer: Cost-effectiveness analysis

Q8. Low health literacy in impoverished populations most directly increases the risk of:

• Correct medication reconciliation
• Dosing errors and poor medication adherence
• Improved vaccine uptake
• Higher rates of pharmacovigilance reporting

Correct Answer: Dosing errors and poor medication adherence

Q9. Which child health outcome is most strongly associated with household poverty?

• Lower rates of asthma only
• Increased under-five mortality and malnutrition
• Higher neonatal birth weights
• Reduced incidence of infectious diseases

Correct Answer: Increased under-five mortality and malnutrition

Q10. Maternal poverty commonly leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes through which mechanism?

• Excessive prenatal testing
• Limited access to antenatal care and nutrition
• Lower fertility rates
• Higher rates of elective cesarean sections

Correct Answer: Limited access to antenatal care and nutrition

Q11. Which chronic disease pattern is often amplified by poverty in low-resource settings?

• Decreased hypertension prevalence due to lack of diagnosis
• Higher burden of diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to combined risk and poor care
• Exclusive increase in rare genetic disorders
• Lower rates of multimorbidity

Correct Answer: Higher burden of diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to combined risk and poor care

Q12. Environmental exposure linked to poor housing and associated with neurodevelopmental harm is:

• Ultraviolet radiation
• Lead poisoning from old paint and contaminated water
• Excessive aerobic exercise
• Overconsumption of vitamins

Correct Answer: Lead poisoning from old paint and contaminated water

Q13. Poverty is most consistently associated with which mental health outcome?

• Lower prevalence of anxiety disorders
• Increased rates of depression and stress-related disorders
• Guaranteed access to psychotherapy
• Reduced substance use

Correct Answer: Increased rates of depression and stress-related disorders

Q14. Vaccination coverage tends to be lower among impoverished groups because of:

• Excessive trust in formal healthcare
• Access barriers, costs, and low health literacy
• Higher natural immunity making vaccines unnecessary
• Universal free provision in all settings

Correct Answer: Access barriers, costs, and low health literacy

Q15. A major driver of antimicrobial resistance in low-income settings is:

• Strict prescription-only enforcement
• Over-the-counter antibiotic misuse and poor stewardship
• Excessive vaccine coverage
• High-cost brand antibiotics only

Correct Answer: Over-the-counter antibiotic misuse and poor stewardship

Q16. When health payments push households below the poverty line, this is termed:

• Preventive health financing
• Catastrophic health expenditure leading to impoverishment
• Universal health coverage success
• Health equity improvement

Correct Answer: Catastrophic health expenditure leading to impoverishment

Q17. Health equity primarily focuses on:

• Maximizing clinical trial enrollment
• Achieving fairness in health opportunities and outcomes
• Increasing pharmaceutical profits
• Standardizing dosing for all ages

Correct Answer: Achieving fairness in health opportunities and outcomes

Q18. Implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in low-income countries most directly helps by:

• Eliminating all disease through vaccines alone
• Reducing out-of-pocket spending and improving access to essential services
• Replacing community health workers with private clinics
• Guaranteeing high-cost specialty care for all

Correct Answer: Reducing out-of-pocket spending and improving access to essential services

Q19. Frequent stock-outs of essential medicines in poor regions are commonly due to:

• Surplus inventory at peripheral pharmacies
• Poor supply chain infrastructure and financing gaps
• Excessive donor funding
• Low disease burden

Correct Answer: Poor supply chain infrastructure and financing gaps

Q20. Malnutrition can alter oral drug absorption primarily because of:

• Increased gastrointestinal motility only
• Changes in gut integrity, enzyme activity, and transit time
• Guaranteed improved bioavailability
• Permanent cessation of hepatic metabolism

Correct Answer: Changes in gut integrity, enzyme activity, and transit time

Q21. In many low-income communities, community pharmacies often serve as:

• Primary points of healthcare access and patient counseling
• Exclusive centers for advanced surgeries
• Research-only facilities with no patient contact
• Places that never dispense generic medicines

Correct Answer: Primary points of healthcare access and patient counseling

Q22. Which social intervention has evidence for improving child health service use and nutrition in poor households?

• Unconditional cash hoarding
• Conditional cash transfers tied to clinic visits or school attendance
• Limiting food distribution to urban centers only
• Eliminating primary education

Correct Answer: Conditional cash transfers tied to clinic visits or school attendance

Q23. Which metric combines years of life lost and years lived with disability to measure disease burden?

• Health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE)
• Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Body mass index (BMI)

Correct Answer: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)

Q24. Poor sanitation most directly increases the incidence of which condition in impoverished settings?

• Diarrheal diseases and enteric infections
• Autoimmune disorders exclusively
• Reduced infectious disease transmission
• Improved water quality

Correct Answer: Diarrheal diseases and enteric infections

Q25. In malnourished children, volume of distribution for hydrophilic drugs is often:

• Unchanged compared to well-nourished children
• Increased due to excess body water
• Decreased owing to reduced lean body mass
• Irrelevant for dosing decisions

Correct Answer: Decreased owing to reduced lean body mass

Q26. Preventive care uptake (screening, immunization) in low-income groups is generally:

• Higher than in wealthy groups
• Lower due to access, cost, and awareness barriers
• Unaffected by socioeconomic status
• Perfectly equal across populations

Correct Answer: Lower due to access, cost, and awareness barriers

Q27. Health education interventions in impoverished communities most effectively improve:

• Only short-term clinic revenue
• Medication adherence, self-care, and preventive behaviors
• Access to luxury medicines
• Instant elimination of chronic disease

Correct Answer: Medication adherence, self-care, and preventive behaviors

Q28. For many outpatients in low-income settings, the largest single direct medical cost is often:

• Diagnostic imaging
• Hospital room charges
• Medication purchase
• Physician consultation fees only

Correct Answer: Medication purchase

Q29. Catastrophic health expenditure is commonly defined when household health spending exceeds what proportion of household income or consumption?

• 1% of income
• 10% of household income or consumption
• 50% of income only
• Zero percent by definition

Correct Answer: 10% of household income or consumption

Q30. Effective strategies to reduce poverty-related health disparities require collaboration primarily between:

• Only pharmaceutical companies and hospitals
• Multiple sectors such as health, education, housing, and social protection
• Exclusive focus on tertiary care centers
• International donors without local engagement

Correct Answer: Multiple sectors such as health, education, housing, and social protection

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