Principles of preventive medicine MCQs With Answer

Principles of preventive medicine MCQs With Answer is a focused resource for B. Pharm students to master core public health and preventive care concepts. This concise introduction covers epidemiology, levels of prevention, screening, vaccination, surveillance, health promotion, environmental health, and pharmacovigilance. Emphasis on practical application helps pharmacy students understand disease prevention, risk assessment, outbreak response, and antimicrobial stewardship. Keywords included are primary prevention, secondary prevention, tertiary prevention, incidence, prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, herd immunity, and screening programs. Clear explanations and targeted practice MCQs with answers will strengthen exam readiness and clinical decision-making in community and public health pharmacy. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. What is the primary goal of preventive medicine?

• Reduce the incidence of disease in a population
• Provide curative treatment for individuals
• Rehabilitate disabled patients
• Develop new pharmaceuticals

Correct Answer: Reduce the incidence of disease in a population

Q2. Secondary prevention primarily aims to:

• Prevent the initial occurrence of disease
• Early detection and prompt treatment to halt progression
• Restore function after major disability
• Eliminate pathogen reservoirs

Correct Answer: Early detection and prompt treatment to halt progression

Q3. Herd immunity threshold for a disease mainly depends on which factor?

• Basic reproduction number (R0) of the agent
• Average age of the population
• Duration of immunity only
• Type of vaccine storage used

Correct Answer: Basic reproduction number (R0) of the agent

Q4. Sensitivity of a screening test measures:

• Ability to identify those with disease (true positive rate)
• Ability to identify those without disease (true negative rate)
• Proportion of positive tests over time
• Cost-effectiveness of the test

Correct Answer: Ability to identify those with disease (true positive rate)

Q5. Specificity of a test is defined as:

• Ability to detect disease early
• Ability to identify those without disease (true negative rate)
• Probability that a positive test indicates disease
• Proportion of screened population

Correct Answer: Ability to identify those without disease (true negative rate)

Q6. Positive predictive value (PPV) of a test depends on:

• Sensitivity, specificity and disease prevalence
• Sensitivity alone
• Specificity alone
• Test manufacturer only

Correct Answer: Sensitivity, specificity and disease prevalence

Q7. Incidence is best described as:

• Total number of existing cases at a point in time divided by population
• Number of new cases in a population during a specified time divided by population at risk
• Number of deaths in a population per year
• Proportion of asymptomatic infections

Correct Answer: Number of new cases in a population during a specified time divided by population at risk

Q8. Prevalence measures:

• New infections per week only
• Total number of existing cases at a given time divided by total population
• Mortality rate among cases
• Vaccine efficacy in trials

Correct Answer: Total number of existing cases at a given time divided by total population

Q9. A cohort study is most appropriate for:

• Investigating rare diseases with few cases
• Assessing incidence and temporal relationship between exposure and outcome
• Randomizing participants to new treatments
• Rapid outbreak case identification only

Correct Answer: Assessing incidence and temporal relationship between exposure and outcome

Q10. Case-control studies are particularly useful when studying:

• Common, short-duration illnesses
• Rare diseases or diseases with long latency periods
• Vaccine efficacy in randomized trials
• Population-wide screening implementation

Correct Answer: Rare diseases or diseases with long latency periods

Q11. For a community screening program where missing cases is dangerous, you should choose a test with:

• High specificity to minimize false positives
• High sensitivity to minimize false negatives
• Low cost regardless of performance
• Low negative predictive value

Correct Answer: High sensitivity to minimize false negatives

Q12. Wilson and Jungner screening criteria emphasize that:

• Screening should be done for any detectable condition
• The condition should be an important health problem with available treatment and a suitable test
• Only genetic tests qualify as screening
• Screening is primarily a research activity

Correct Answer: The condition should be an important health problem with available treatment and a suitable test

Q13. Pharmacovigilance is concerned with:

• Marketing strategies for new drugs
• Detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines
• Formulation development only
• Pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers

Correct Answer: Detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects of medicines

Q14. AEFI in immunization programs stands for:

• Acute Events Following Injection
• Adverse Events Following Immunization
• Administered Efficacy Feedback Indicator
• Antibody Evaluation For Immunity

Correct Answer: Adverse Events Following Immunization

Q15. The main purpose of the vaccine cold chain is to:

• Reduce vaccine production costs
• Maintain required temperature of vaccines to preserve potency
• Increase vaccine shelf life indefinitely
• Facilitate mass vaccination logistics only

Correct Answer: Maintain required temperature of vaccines to preserve potency

Q16. Quarantine differs from isolation in that quarantine:

• Is for confirmed infected individuals only
• Is for exposed but asymptomatic individuals to limit spread
• Is performed only in hospitals
• Applies to vaccinated people only

Correct Answer: Is for exposed but asymptomatic individuals to limit spread

Q17. DALY (disability-adjusted life year) represents:

• Number of people living with a disease
• Years of healthy life lost due to premature death and disability
• Average life expectancy without disease
• Cost of treating chronic illnesses

Correct Answer: Years of healthy life lost due to premature death and disability

Q18. Essential components of primary health care include:

• Only tertiary hospital services
• Health education, immunization, maternal-child care, and prevention of endemic diseases
• Exclusive focus on pharmaceutical manufacturing
• Only advanced surgical care

Correct Answer: Health education, immunization, maternal-child care, and prevention of endemic diseases

Q19. A notifiable disease is defined as a disease that:

• Is always fatal
• Must be reported by law to public health authorities
• Can only be diagnosed in reference labs
• Is untreatable

Correct Answer: Must be reported by law to public health authorities

Q20. An effective vector control intervention for malaria is:

• Using antiviral drugs in infants
• Insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying
• Mass administration of antibiotics
• Using chlorine tablets in drinking water

Correct Answer: Insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying

Q21. The public health benefit of herd immunity is that it:

• Eliminates the need for vaccines
• Reduces overall transmission when a sufficient proportion is immune
• Guarantees 100% individual protection
• Depends solely on natural infection rates

Correct Answer: Reduces overall transmission when a sufficient proportion is immune

Q22. A screening test with high negative predictive value is most useful to:

• Confirm disease in positive individuals
• Rule out disease in individuals with negative results
• Estimate disease prevalence reliably in low-resource settings
• Replace diagnostic confirmation entirely

Correct Answer: Rule out disease in individuals with negative results

Q23. Which study design provides the highest level of evidence for evaluating an intervention?

• Cross-sectional study
• Case series
• Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
• Ecological study

Correct Answer: Randomized controlled trial (RCT)

Q24. Attack rate in an outbreak investigation refers to:

• Proportion of exposed individuals who become ill during the outbreak
• Average incubation period of the pathogen
• Number of secondary cases per index case
• Coverage of vaccination campaigns

Correct Answer: Proportion of exposed individuals who become ill during the outbreak

Q25. Prevalence of a chronic disease in a population is influenced by:

• Incidence of disease and average duration of disease
• Incubation period only
• Vaccine efficacy only
• Diagnostic test kit brand

Correct Answer: Incidence of disease and average duration of disease

Q26. Crude mortality rate is usually expressed as:

• Number of deaths per 1000 population per year
• Number of deaths among cases only
• Proportion of deaths in hospitals
• Number of infant deaths per 100 births

Correct Answer: Number of deaths per 1000 population per year

Q27. The difference between sterilization and disinfection is that sterilization:

• Reduces microbial load to safe levels only
• Kills all microorganisms including spores
• Is used only on the skin
• Requires no validation

Correct Answer: Kills all microorganisms including spores

Q28. Incubation period is defined as:

• Time from symptom onset to recovery
• Time between exposure to an infectious agent and appearance of first symptoms
• Time needed for laboratory culture growth
• Time between diagnosis and treatment

Correct Answer: Time between exposure to an infectious agent and appearance of first symptoms

Q29. Confounding in epidemiologic studies occurs when:

• An extraneous factor is associated with both the exposure and the outcome, distorting the true association
• Study participants are lost to follow-up
• Randomization is properly implemented
• Sample size is too large

Correct Answer: An extraneous factor is associated with both the exposure and the outcome, distorting the true association

Q30. The primary aim of antimicrobial stewardship programs is to:

• Increase antibiotic sales for manufacturers
• Optimize antimicrobial use to reduce resistance and improve patient outcomes
• Eliminate all antibiotic use in hospitals
• Promote use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for all infections

Correct Answer: Optimize antimicrobial use to reduce resistance and improve patient outcomes

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