Introduction
Medical demography studies the demographic processes closely related to the health of the population. This topic covers population dynamics, with migration (external and internal, forced and voluntary), its types and its health aspects.
Role of medical demography
To identify:
- Inadequate service provision at population level
- Variation in access to healthcare
- Significant differences or abnormalities between health authority populations that require further detailed investigation
- Health outcome
In order to improve:
- Health promotion and disease prevention strategies
- Primary and community care
- Secondary care
Population dynamics (period in time)
Demography (Greek demos = people, graphia = writing) studies the characteristics of human populations: size, growth, density, distribution and vital statistics. Population dynamics is the study of changes within the population and of the processes influencing those changes. It includes:
- Natural and vital events: births, deaths, marriages and divorces.
- Migration: emigration versus immigration, giving net migration.
Natural and vital events are measured by:
- 1) Birth rate per mille:
- 2) Death rate per mille:
- 3) Marriages and divorces.