Community Medicine Cheat Sheet
Social Conditions Shape Health Choices
Social and behavioural determinants of health: clinico-social assessment, family types and APGAR, Kuppuswamy and BG Prasad scales for NEET-PG revision.
MedNext Academy | 3 min read
Social Conditions Shape Health Choices
Social and behavioural determinants of health: clinico-social assessment, family types and APGAR, Kuppuswamy and BG Prasad scales for NEET-PG revision.
This topic covers the relationship of social and behavioural factors to health and disease, teaching clinico-socio-cultural assessment of the individual, family and community and the social determinants of health.
High-yield lines
- A clinico-social assessment explains why a disease occurred, why it persists, why care was delayed and what intervention is feasible.
- Assessment moves through three nested levels: individual, family and community.
- Family types include nuclear, joint and extended families, which shape care-giving and decision-making.
- The family APGAR assesses adaptation, partnership, growth, affection and resolve within a family.
- The dependency ratio compares dependents aged under 15 and over 65 with the working-age population.
- Social determinants of health include income, education, occupation, housing, water, sanitation and social support.
- Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding a disease guide the content of counselling.
- The medico-social work-up extends the clinical history across individual, family, workplace, community and wider system domains.
- Open-ended questions asked first, followed by gentle probes, improve the quality of a social history.
- Socioeconomic status in India is commonly classified using the modified Kuppuswamy scale for urban families.
- The modified BG Prasad scale classifies socioeconomic status using per-capita monthly income adjusted for inflation.
- Culture, beliefs and gender norms influence care-seeking behaviour and treatment adherence.
- Observation of housing, ventilation, water storage and sanitation reduces recall bias during a home visit.
- The social history must be used to guide action, not merely recorded as decoration.
Mapped competency codes
- CM2.1
- CM2.2
- CM2.3
- CM2.4
- CM2.5
Continue into the full chapter
This summary maps to CM2-relationship-of-social-and-behavioural-to-health-and-disease.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three levels of a clinico-social assessment?
The individual level, the family level and the community level, each informing different care decisions.
Which scales classify socioeconomic status in India?
The modified Kuppuswamy scale for urban families and the modified BG Prasad scale based on per-capita monthly income adjusted for inflation.
What does the family APGAR assess?
Adaptation, partnership, growth, affection and resolve, giving a quick measure of family functioning and support.
Why is a social history essential alongside the clinical diagnosis?
The clinical diagnosis names the disease, while the social history explains why it occurred, why care was delayed and what intervention is feasible in that household.
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