Deck 14: Health and Illness

Question 1

Many countries around the world have national policies or guidelines on how to report suicides. These policies range from not using the term "suicide" to describe a death to being careful to use words that do not in any way romanticize the act or show it in a positive light. Policies may also restrict the amount of news coverage of suicides. Which theoretical stance would best explain these types of policies and guidelines?

A) physiological
B) psychological
C) contagion
D) selection
E) ecological

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In earlier times, death used to happen at home. Today, approximately ______________ of patients die in hospitals or nursing homes in the United States.

A) 25 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 85 percent
E) 95 percent

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Whereas the top causes of death in the United States are ____________ illness, people in the developing world are continually affected by the threat of ____________ illness.

A) acute; curative
B) preventive; chronic
C) chronic; acute
D) preventive; crisis
E) crisis; acute

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is an icon of the "City by the Bay" and a world-renowned tourist destination. It is also the number one suicide magnet in the world. Which theoretical explanation for suicide would best explain the high rates of suicide at the bridge?

A) contagion
B) selection
C) ecological
D) psychological
E) anomic

Question 5

When we focus on making a person comfortable at the end of life, we are practicing ______________.

A) acute care
B) palliative care
C) crisis care
D) chronic care
E) preventive care

Question 6

Which theoretical explanation for suicide argues that when one person commits suicide, this can set off a cluster of other suicides?

A) physiological
B) psychological
C) contagion
D) selection
E) ecological

Question 7

Sid feels horrible. He goes to his doctor, who tells Sid he's got a bad cold and should be feeling better soon. How would Sid's illness be classified?

A) chronic
B) acute
C) curative
D) crisis
E) preventive

Question 8

Kea tries to take good care of herself. She works out regularly, gets plenty of rest, and eats well. Her approach to health is most closely aligned with:

A) palliative medicine.
B) chronic illness.
C) preventive medicine.
D) curative or crisis medicine.
E) lifestyle medicine.

Question 9

One organization that conducts large-scale research studies specifically on American college students to determine health behaviors and develop support programs and services for them on a wide variety of health-related issues is ______________.

A) the World Health organization
B) the United Nations
C) the Surgeon General's office
D) the American College Health Association
E) the Kinsey Institute

Question 10

Good health is:

A) historically and socially contingent.
B) biologically determined.
C) unrelated to culture.
D) consistent around the world.
E) explained only by biomedical models.

Question 11

Ori went to eat at his favorite restaurant and unfortunately got food poisoning. His illness was treated right away. This treatment would be classified as:

A) preventive medicine.
B) palliative medicine.
C) chronic.
D) curative or crisis medicine.
E) lifestyle.

Question 12

Which theoretical explanation for suicide emphasizes the lure of a place and factors that draw people with suicidal tendencies to it?

A) physiological
B) psychological
C) contagion
D) selection
E) ecological

Question 13

In the early 1900s, just under 50 percent of births took place at home. Today, around 99 percent of all births take place in hospitals. This is an example of:

A) chronic care.
B) medicalization.
C) palliative care.
D) the tragedy of the commons.
E) free loading.

Question 14

______________ come on suddenly and are often contagious.

A) Crisis diseases
B) Acute diseases
C) Curative diseases
D) Preventive diseases
E) Chronic diseases

Question 15

What do sociologists ask you to consider regarding health and illness?

A) how biomedical models are superior to other explanations
B) the physical roots of health and illness
C) how health and illness are shaped by social factors
D) their similarities throughout the world
E) their biological context

Question 16

Single-industry resource towns built around either excavating raw materials like coal or lumber or transporting them by train tend to spring up suddenly. Many people move there to work for the company, and the rate of change is fast: one day there is a forest, the next, a growing town built around mobile homes in the bush. There are often few if any other things to do besides work. Rates of depression tend to be high. Which theoretical explanation for suicide would explain the higher rates of depression that can lead to suicide in places like this?

A) selection
B) psychological
C) contagion
D) physiological
E) ecological

Question 17

In the 1990s, legal researcher Erin Brockovich helped win a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company because they had been poisoning the water in the small town of Hinkley, California, for thirty years. Toxic Chromium 6 leached into the water system and sickened many Hinkley residents with ailments like liver damage and cancer. How would the illnesses of the Hinkley residents be classified?

A) preventive diseases
B) crisis diseases
C) curative diseases
D) acute diseases
E) chronic diseases

Question 18

When film legend Marilyn Monroe committed suicide, demographers noted a sharp increase in suicide rates in the following month. Which theory would best explain the increase in rates?

A) contagion
B) psychological
C) physiological
D) selection
E) ecological

Question 19

A popular television program called The Swan aimed to turn less visually appealing people into more socially acceptable ones by radically changing their appearance through plastic surgery, as well as through clothing, style, and makeup artistry. This is an example of:

A) medicalization and the social construction of health and illness.
B) the rise of the new naturalists.
C) acute care transformations.
D) a way to finally address the failure of willpower.
E) genetic improvement.

Question 20

Television announcer Al Roker and singer Carnie Wilson have both undergone stomach stapling, or gastric bypass surgery, as a radical and invasive approach to weight loss. Previously, weight loss was not usually considered a medical problem that could be addressed through surgery. This is evidence of:

A) increases in psychiatric approaches to care.
B) medicalization and the social construction of health and illness.
C) an approach to an acute condition.
D) how people today tend to follow television stars' behavior.
E) the de-commodification of health and illness.

Question 21

Epidemiologists are currently studying the role of ______________ in the spread of diseases globally.

A) deforestation
B) La Niña
C) La Niño
D) climate change
E) the Anslinger effect

Question 22

Epidemiologists take into account the role of global climate change and its relationship to the spread of disease. In rural areas of Cambodia, epidemiologists have noted that social patterns are linked to the spread of mosquito-borne illness. Which of the following would they NOT consider?

A) increases in rainfall due to La Niña
B) changes in use of the forests-logging or military use
C) new migration and settlements
D) factory closures or economic shifts and changes
E) increases in the use of antiretroviral drugs

Question 23

Epidemiologists predict that __________ rates may dramatically increase when vector organisms and animals enter new ecosystems due to global climate change.

A) heart disease
B) obesity
C) plague
D) cancer
E) depression

Question 24

Dean is an upper-middle class American. He lives in an affluent area, holds a bachelor's degree, and has a great job. It is likely that his health status is:

A) marginal.
B) excellent.
C) middling.
D) poor.
E) No research has been done that would help us comment on his health status.

Question 25

What is the study of the social aspects of diseases called?

A) pharmacology
B) demography
C) entomology
D) epidemiology
E) medicalization

Question 26

When an epidemic spreads across national borders, across continents, or around the world, it is referred to as a(n) ________________.

A) epidemiology
B) epidemiological force
C) sick wave
D) pandemic
E) post pandemic

Question 27

As the process of the _____________ develops, we will be less likely to treat someone who has a mental health issue as having something they should just "deal with" or "get over" individually. Instead, we will be more likely to think of the issue as having to do with a disease.

A) medicalization
B) acute care
C) hospitalization
D) the professionalization of doctors
E) epidemic

Question 28

There is evidence that _____________ make(s) men more sick.

A) biological features
B) traditional male gender role expectations
C) traditional female gender role expectations
D) male gender inequality
E) female gender inequality

Question 29

Epidemiologists are currently studying the role of temperature increases in the spread of diseases globally. Specifically, they have found that increases in temperature can also increase pathogen-carrying agents called:

A) vector organisms.
B) infectious agents.
C) mosquitoes.
D) pathogens.
E) ecosystem deterrents.

Question 30

Kendra is a lower-class American. She lives in public housing, did not finish high school, experiences lapses in employment, and has a hard time making financial ends meet. It is likely that she:

A) will have an average life expectancy.
B) will have a slightly lower death rate.
C) reports having good physical well-being.
D) will have a higher incidence of depression.
E) No research has been done that would help us comment on her health status.

Question 31

Epidemiologists predict that rates of certain diseases or viruses may dramatically increase when vector organisms and animals enter new ecosystems due to global climate change. Which of the following have epidemiologists NOT linked to climate change?

A) Lyme disease
B) West Nile virus
C) yellow and dengue fevers
D) HIV/AIDS
E) plague

Question 32

Harvard Medical School professor John Goodson refers to concierge medicine as:

A) private practice
B) "rich guys rule" medicine
C) country club medicine
D) the medicine of the future
E) cutting-edge practice

Question 33

These carry and spread germs in geographic locations around the world.

A) pathogens
B) vector organisms
C) ecosystem deterrents
D) infectious agents
E) mosquitoes

Question 34

_____________ gather and analyze data on particular illnesses; how, where, and to whom they are spread; and how to stop their spread.

A) Sociologists
B) Psychologists
C) Epidemiologists
D) Entomologists
E) Social engineers

Question 35

Dana, a female, and Rio, a male, are both 60 years old and from the same socioeconomic background. Based on information from Chapter 14 of your text, what health prediction could we make about them?

A) Dana is more likely than Rio to get cancer or diabetes.
B) Rio is more likely than Dana to get cancer or diabetes.
C) Dana is more likely to suffer from heart disease than Rio.
D) Rio is less likely than Dana to have a stroke.
E) Dana is more likely than Rio to suffer from depression.

Question 36

Marcia, a female, and Mario, a male, are both 50-year-old Hispanics. Marcia has a lower socioeconomic status than Mario, but both of them adhere closely to traditional gender role expectations. According to information from Chapter 14, what prediction could we make about them?

A) Marcia will live a longer life than Mario.
B) Mario will live a longer life than Marcia.
C) Mario will suffer from more disease in his lifetime than Marcia.
D) Marcia will not divorce in her lifetime.
E) Mario will not divorce in his lifetime.

Question 37

Rosenbaum (2008) found that it was more common for _________________ in New York City to live in substandard housing in marginalized neighborhoods than in healthy neighborhoods with decent housing.

A) whites and Asians
B) Asians and blacks
C) blacks and Hispanics
D) Hispanics and whites
E) whites and blacks

Question 38

When the incidence of a particular infectious disease is drastically larger than first estimated, this is referred to as a(n) ________________.

A) epidemic
B) pandemic
C) epidemiology
D) distribution issue
E) false consciousness

Question 39

You are an American with a lower socioeconomic status. You are a racial minority, live in public housing, and did finish high school but work at a physically labor-intensive job. You are supporting a family of four on your wages. It is likely that you:

A) have a number of ailments, like arthritis and asthma.
B) will have a slightly lower death rate.
C) report having good physical well-being.
D) engage in regular good health practices.
E) No research has been done that would help us comment on your health status.

Question 40

Malaria is a serious health concern in Cambodia. In some villages, especially those surrounded by forests, the rate of malaria infection is 40 percent. Due to your extensive professional experience with the study of social disease patterns, you have been asked to research the problem for the World Health Organization. You are most likely a(n):

A) proctologist.
B) psychologist.
C) political economist.
D) entomologist.
E) epidemiologist.

Question 41

What have both classic and more recent studies of hospital experiences found?

A) The hospital experience is often dehumanizing, and the power of the institutions to define diagnoses is heavily skewed.
B) The hospital experience is usually highly satisfactory to patients and doctors alike.
C) Mixed results have been found, as studies are of varying ages.
D) Mixed findings were revealed, as different studies used different research methods.
E) There was no concurrence between studies, and more research is needed.

Question 42

A neighborhood where there is no grocery store but there are more liquor stores, convenience and drug stores, and fast food outlets than most other locations is referred to as a:

A) total institution.
B) locavore problem.
C) chain food center.
D) food desert.
E) fast food-dominated area.

Question 43

Jorge has learned that he has a mental illness. Since then, he has begun to act according to the illness, in ways that he thinks others expect someone with a mental illness to act. Which theory of health and illness best explains his situation?

A) conflict
B) doctor-patient confidentiality
C) developmental sociology
D) sick role
E) symbolic interactionism

Question 44

What does research on medical interaction generally take into account?

A) basically the doctor-patient dyad
B) dyads, triads, and groups in interaction
C) individuals
D) children
E) all age groups, but usually only combinations between two main groups

Question 45

What is a group of medical treatments and products called that includes practices like acupuncture, homeopathy, hypnosis, and meditation, as well as traditional healers like shamans and movement therapies like Pilates?

A) ObamaCare
B) the Medical Care Act of 2010
C) naturopathy
D) Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
E) Medicaid and Medicare

Question 46

Is medicine in the United States a social institution?

A) Yes, because doctors need licenses to practice.
B) No, because it is more of an ideal than a social institution.
C) Yes, because organizations like the American Medical Association set policy and shape definitions of health and illness throughout the nation.
D) No, because organizations like the American Medical Association are brick-and-mortar places and not really large-scale patterns of interaction.
E) Yes, because a study was done that polled Americans who reported that it is.

Question 47

The concept of acknowledging and incorporating a patient's cultural background as part of the treatment process is called:

A) patient rights.
B) cultural competence.
C) Association of American Medical Colleges.
D) stigma management.
E) complementary medicine.

Question 48

Studies of doctor-patient relations find that:

A) the institutional setting is dominated by doctors.
B) the institutional setting is dominated by patients.
C) the institutional setting has no bearing on doctor-patient relations.
D) doctor-patient relations have more to do with agreement on diagnoses than anything else.
E) the institutional setting is where doctor-patient relationships occur and that the interactions determine who has power or status.

Question 49

The 2010 Health Care Reform Act (formally called the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act") represents:

A) the medical establishment.
B) doctor-patient confidentiality.
C) a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health-care system.
D) the relative unimportance of medical systems in the United States.
E) patients' power and status.

Question 50

You live in a densely populated American city, are nonwhite, and survive on a low income. According to Chapter 14 of your text, it is likely that you live in:

A) a food desert.
B) Manhattan, New York.
C) Honolulu, Hawaii.
D) an example of a tragedy of the commons.
E) Chapter 14 is about health and illness, so this topic is not covered.

Question 51

Which of the following is an effect of food deserts for minorities?

A) They are only located in densely populated urban areas.
B) They are only located in sparsely populated rural areas.
C) There is access to fresh meats but not vegetables or fruits.
D) There is access to fresh vegetables and fruits but not meats.
E) There is higher risk of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Question 52

According to your textbook, if you live in a(n) ______________ , you are at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, or heart disease.

A) densely populated urban area
B) sparsely populated rural area
C) East Coast city
D) food desert
E) violent environment

Question 53

The American Medical Association:

A) is a member-run organization.
B) creates, maintains, legitimizes, and controls medicine in the United States.
C) really has had a hands-off approach to medicine, while corporations have had more say.
D) really has had a hands-off approach to medicine, while the government has had more say.
E) is a complicated organization with a long history of social policy advocacy around improving health for all Americans regardless of social class, racial or ethnic group, or gender.

Question 54

Death and illness in a population is bad for the productivity of the system and is a destabilizing force. Which theory takes this approach to medicine?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict
C) symbolic interactionism
D) sick role
E) ecological

Question 55

Michael Moore's film Sicko explores the U.S. health-care system and compares it to other nations' health-care systems through the eyes of everyday people. One segment tells the story of a little girl in the United States who needed an expensive surgery to restore her hearing. The insurance company agreed to perform the surgery on one ear, but not both. They reasoned that the child would be able to hear out of one ear and didn't really need to have hearing in both. The child's parents sent a letter to the insurance company explaining that they were being interviewed by Moore for the film, adding, "Has your CEO ever been in a film before?" Shortly after this, the insurance company notified the family that the child's surgery had been approved. Which theory best explains this family's experience?

A) total institution
B) socialized medicine theory
C) structural functionalism
D) conflict
E) symbolic interactionism

Question 56

You've seen the TV program Royal Pains, about concierge medicine, and it looks great to you. If you were able to have such a doctor, you'd have a personal relationship with him, he would come to your house whenever you called, he'd have access to all the best that medical practice has to offer, and he'd see you for more than the ten-minute office visit your regular doctor gives you. What do medical ethicists think about concierge medicine?

A) It really is a great addition to the medical field for all the stated reasons.
B) It is expensive for the concierge providers.
C) It may be at odds with doctors' professional codes.
D) It is within professional practice philosophical codes.
E) It is such a new phenomenon that it has not been studied as yet.

Question 57

The documentary "Unnatural Causes" explores the lives of several Louisville, Kentucky, residents at different socioeconomic status levels and from various racial backgrounds. It found that poorer Louisville residents suffered greater rates of illness and died earlier than wealthier ones. What is this an example of?

A) deprivation amplification
B) food deserts
C) environmental racism
D) impression management
E) anomie

Question 58

When our individual, genetic, and physiological illness and disease risks are exacerbated by social factors like the neighborhood where we live, race, ethnic and class inequality, and corporate and governmental policies and practices, this is referred to sociologically as:

A) a human rights dilemma.
B) deprivation amplification.
C) a food desert.
D) impression management.
E) public degradation.

Question 59

Talcott Parsons researched this from a structural functionalist perspective:

A) the medical establishment
B) doctor-patient confidentiality
C) medical policy
D) the sick role
E) doctors' power and status

Question 60

C. Wright Mills used the term "the sociological imagination" to refer to important interconnections between personal troubles and public issues. What would he have said about deprivation amplification?

A) It didn't really apply to a sociological imagination.
B) Public issues cause poor health, so work needs to be done to more properly address disease rates solely at the public level.
C) Personal troubles cause poor health, so work needs to be done to more properly address disease rates solely at the personal level.
D) Both public issues and personal troubles contribute to poor health, so work needs to be done at both levels to more properly address disease rates.
E) Neither public issues nor personal troubles contribute to poor health, so work done at these levels would not address disease rates any differently.

Question 61

Recision refers to ________________.

A) stabilizing the price of health care
B) a period of temporary economic decline
C) insurance companies canceling a client's coverage only after the person gets sick
D) insurance companies denying health-care coverage due to a pre-existing condition
E) a client's inability to pay for health insurance due to economic hardship

Question 62

Health and illness are mostly physical states that do not include other life aspects such as mental well-being or changing cultural beliefs.

Question 63

People with higher socioeconomic status can expect to live longer lives for all of the following reasons EXCEPT _______________.

A) they can afford better health care
B) they have greater access to nutritious foods
C) they tend to be naturally smarter and are thus better informed
D) they have better access to preventative practices like exercise
E) they can afford better diagnostic tests

Question 64

Paolo broke a finger playing soccer and was seen by a medical practitioner very soon after the accident. His ailment would be classified as a chronic illness.

Question 65

Our physical bodies are embedded in social relations. This means that health is both physical and social.

Question 66

The 28.4 percent increase in California's caseload of Autism Spectrum Disorder between 1992 and 2006 is the result of _____________.

A) dietary changes
B) diagnostic changes
C) advanced maternal age
D) vaccines
E) increased exposure to environmental toxins

Question 67

AIDS is distributed disproportionately throughout the world. Approximately ____________ of cases occur in the wealthy industrialized nations.

A) 1 percent
B) 4 percent
C) 10 percent
D) 14 percent
E) 40 percent

Question 68

Drugs and alcohol are used as an escape from the strains of the social system. Which theory takes this approach to understanding addiction?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict
C) symbolic interactionism
D) sick role
E) ecological

Question 69

Genetic testing in utero can inform parents of possible genetic mutations in the embryo. There are ethical concerns that genetic testing might become a modern form of ________________?

A) euthanasia
B) population control
C) genocide
D) quantitative easing
E) racial profiling

Question 70

Which of the following has NOT been considered a prevalent cause of mental illness at some point in history?

A) individual weakness
B) a moral failing caused by demon possession
C) exposure to environmental toxins
D) the astrological position of the moon at the time of one's birth
E) problems of brain chemistry

Question 71

The nature of health can be defined by its social rather than biological context.

Question 72

People of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be scrutinized as problem drinkers or drug addicts. Which theory takes this approach to understanding addiction?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict
C) symbolic interactionism
D) sick role
E) ecological

Question 73

What does one call the study of controversial, moral, or ethical issues related to scientific and medical advancements?

A) ecological approach
B) bioethics
C) biological imperative
D) conflict
E) naturopathy

Question 74

The 2010 entering freshman class at the University of California, Berkeley was invited to give a saliva sample to test for genetic markers. Eventually, the university was forced to shut down the study due to ethical concerns. What might have been a main ethical concern of this study?

A) the use of genetic profiles
B) student confidentiality
C) lack of Human Subjects' clearance
D) inability to ensure anonymity
E) spread of disease through the process

Question 75

Liu, King, and Bearman (2010) find that independent of other factors, children living near other children diagnosed with autism are more likely to also be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This demonstrates that Autism Spectrum Disorder is ___________.

A) contagious
B) more common in certain geographic regions
C) a social phenomenon
D) something that can be learned and performed
E) not a real disorder

Question 76

Asperger's syndrome, one disorder in the Autism Spectrum family, first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1994 and was later removed in the fifth edition in 2013, to be folded back into Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is an example of _____________?

A) changing professional norms
B) zeitgeist
C) indecisiveness
D) medicalization
E) a social movement

Question 77

Since AIDS was identified in the early 1980s, approximately _________________ people have died from having contracted the virus.

A) 25 million
B) 250 thousand
C) 2.5 million
D) 100 million
E) 100 thousand

Question 78

Jordan has been suffering from sinus pain for several months, and his physician prescribes over-the-counter decongestants and acupuncture. This is an example of ______________.

A) complementary medicine
B) conventional medicine
C) alternative medicine
D) curative medicine
E) integrative medicine

Question 79

This form of health care makes ill patients more comfortable and prepares them for the end of life.

A) integrative
B) alternative
C) palliative
D) comprehensive
E) complementary

Question 80

Which of the following United States presidents described comprehensive health-care reform as the highest priority on his unfinished agenda for America?

A) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
B) Richard Nixon
C) George W. Bush
D) Bill Clinton
E) Barack Obama