3) PERSON DISTRIBUTION

 The disease can be characterised by defining a

person who develops a disease based on age,
sex, occupation, marital status, social factors,
habits and other host factors.

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 A) AGE

 Certain diseases are more frequent in certain age

groups than others. Eg: Measles in childhood,
cancer in middle age and atherosclerosis in old age.
 Many chronic and degenerative diseases show a
progressive increase in prevalence with advancing
age.
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 BIMODALITY
 There may be two separate peaks instead of one in
the age incidence curve of a disease. This is known
as bimodality as seen in Hodgkin’s lymphoma,
breast cancer.
 It indicates that there are two different sets of
causative factors even though the clinical and
pathological manifestations of the disease is the
same in all ages. 34
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B) SEX
 Variations occur due to-
1) Biologic difference like sex linked genetic
inheritance
2) Cultural and behavioural differences
between the sexes in social settings.
Eg: 4:1 male to female ratio in lung cancer due
36
to cigarette smoking.
C) ETHNICITY

 Differences in racial and ethnic origin.

 Eg: Tuberculosis, sickle cell anemia

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 D) MARITAL STATUS
 In a study, the mortality rates were lower for
married people than unmarried
 It is because according to demographers and
sociologists, marriages are selective with respect
to health of the individual. Healthier the
individual, the more likely to get married.
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E) OCCUPATION

 Occupation may alter the habit pattern of

employees (Sleep, alcohol, smoking, etc)
 Workers in a particular occupation are
exposed to certain types of risk. Eg: Workers in
coal mines are likely to suffer from silicosis

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F) SOCIAL CLASS

 Health and diseases are NOT equally

distributed in social classes.
 Certain diseases show higher prevalence in
upper class (Diabetes, Coronary heart disease,
hypertension)

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G) BEHAVIOUR
 Behavioural factors such as smoking, sedentary
life, over-eating, drug abuse lead to certain
diseases (Coronary heart disease, Cancer, etc)
 Factors like mass movement (Eg: Pilgrimages)
may also lead to transmission of infectious
diseases.
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H) STRESS
 The effects of stress are seen based on the patient’s

response (Susceptibility to disease, Exacerbation of

symptoms, etc)
I) Migration
• Due to migration of people, there is also transmission of
the disease from one place to another.

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