Sample PBHL20003 Social Epidemiology and Statistics Assignment

PBHL20003 Social Epidemiology and Statistics Assignment Sample

Task description

The literature review provides an overview of the social epidemiological aspects of your topic that you chose for Assessment 2. It summarises broad trends in the literature on your topic and highlights important points in selected articles. The review task includes:

The literature review is due in the last week of Term. However, your preparation should commence at Week 1 to familiarize yourself with the Library and its academic databases, how to conduct literature searches, select material and structure your Review. The University library and CQU Student Learning Support provide online guides and individual sessions; and workshops on academic writing, academic integrity and referencing. You also have access to resources such as Studiosity.

Choosing the literature to include in your assignment help is important. Only peer-reviewed scholarly material should be used. You need to note various views and approaches contained in the literature and to choose works to include without bias or preconceived ideas. Journal articles are often more relevant than books due to the long lead time between the writing and publication of books and because journals are often the forum where the latest thinking on a topic appears.

Solution

Introduction

Malaria has been accounted as one of the major global health priorities as the prevalence of malaria has been affected worldwide nations. According to World Malaria Report published in the year 2020, it has been found that approximately 229,000,000 case reports of malaria have been witnessed in the year 2019 (World Health Organization 2022, p. 1). The report highlights that children belonging to the age of five and below are one of the most susceptible and vulnerable target populations for malaria. Also, the report highlights that in the year 2019 approximately 67% of death cases were identified associated with malaria throughout the world (World Health Organization 2022 p. 1). The National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System and NNBSS reported the identification of 9291 case reports of diseases that are suspected to be transmitted by mosquitoes from the year 2010 to 2011 (Knope 2013, p. 3). It has also been evaluated and acknowledged that malaria has been one of the historical endemics for the population of Australia which was significantly declared eradicated since they are 1981. As the condition of malaria has no longer been accounted as an endemic condition, there are still 700 to 800 cases of malaria reported each year within the population of Australia who are accounted as frequent travellers.

One of the target populations of malaria within the premises of Australia accounts for Papua New Guinea’s population has it has been found that more than 95% of the population belonging to the New Guinea are found living in regions where the risk of malaria transmission is significantly higher than any other communities. The case reports of malaria within the premises of the Western Pacific region of Australia highlight that more than three fourth of the cases of malaria on identified within the Papua New Guinea population (Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea 2022, p. 1). The National Health and Medical Research Council has provided $21,860,617.00 to the field of malaria research in the year 2020 which is divided among ideas grants and investigator grants (NHMRC 2022, p. 1). Focusing on the rising prevalence of malaria as well as the increased risk of the infection within the Papua New Guinea population as well as other communities of Australia, the following literature review will focus on assessing significant literature evidence available in terms of malaria in the Australian population. It is necessary to develop significant literature analysis to evaluate the conditions sustained by the general population of Australia as well as Papua New Guinea as well as significant strategies and supportive actions that the government must take into account to provide them with safer and secured health outcomes. The increased prevalence of malaria within the target population, the significant factors which are associated with the increased risk of the condition as well as the services that are provided as well as those that need to be enhanced within the target population will be evaluated in the following Literature review.

Methods

To conduct a significant literature review, it will be necessary to identify, select and further evaluate sets of literature evidence with the help of inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as a literature search. The inclusion criteria focus on highlighting the criteria based on which the research articles will be selected from electronic databases. Articles which are published between the year 2010 to 2022 will be selected as well as those which are published in the English language (Patino and Ferreira 2018, p. 1). Also, the articles discuss the prevalence of malaria as well as associated factors within the target population such as Australia and Papua New Guinea to be precise. Electronic databases such as PubMed will be used to attain a significant set of literature articles which are peer-reviewed and authentic (Patino and Ferreira 2018, p. 2). The literature review will focus on the methodology target population, significant findings as well as the research gap that are identified within the selected research articles to evaluate a significant set of evidence for the assessment.

Literature analysis:

Theme 1: socioeconomic stability and diversity associated with increased risk of malaria in Papua New Guinea population

According to the research carried out by Davy et al. (2010, p. 1), it has been found that malaria has been one of the major burdens of health within nations with low-income values and standards first up the research was carried out focusing on the treatment-seeking behaviour in terms of malaria within one of the low-income population of Australia accounting for Papua New Guinea. The research was carried out focusing on a cross-sectional survey between two linguistically, culturally as well as demographically different regions where the Papua New Guinea population were residing. The cross-sectional survey relied on household evidence which was taken from both sides accounting for approximately 928 individuals (Davy et al. 2010, p. 3). These individuals were suspected and reported to be suffering from malaria within the past month and those evidence were taken into account based on the associated factors. These factors highlighted the significant treatment day accounted for, the factors that were associated with their living condition as well as other environmental aspects which are highly associated with the prevalence of malaria. The results of the study highlighted that formal health care treatment facilities, as well as cultural values, had a significant factor in the treatment-seeking behaviour of these target populations (Davy et al. 2010, p. 3). It was found that traditional healers, cultural practices as well as formal health care facilities are counted as the major treatment factors in terms of malaria within the target population. The research developed a significant gap in highlighting the precise cultural values and perspectives that serves as a major contributing factor to the risk of malaria as well as treatment-seeking behavior within the Papua New Guinea population (Davy et al. 2010, p, 5).

It was also found in a different research studies carried out by Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. (2019, p. 3) that one of the significant causes of the increased risk of malaria within the Papua New Guinea population was lack of significant hygiene maintained within the general household activities. It was also found that personal hygiene, as well as environmental cleanliness, was significantly low within the population which increased the favourable setting of water contamination and further growth of mosquitoes breeding. Also maintaining significant hygiene such as hand cleaning, cooking with clean water, drinking clean water or maintaining sanitation throughout the surrounding was highly associated with the increased risk of malaria as these practices were effectively low within the target population (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2019, p. 3). It was found that behavioural factors such as drinking clean water, eating healthy food as well as maintaining nutritional value were appropriately and effectively low within the target population which does expose them to increased risk of malaria when compared to other populations. it was assessed that poverty as well as diversity web significantly functioning within the target population which exposes them to inappropriate cleanliness maintenance as well as safety measures implementation within a their daily routine (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2019, p. 3).

Theme 2: Climate change, and biodiversity within Papua New Guinea and other Australian communities
 

It has been found from a research study conducted by Imai et al. (2016, p 4), that climate change, as well as biodiversity, has a significant impact on the pop one new journey population increased prevalence of malaria. It has also been evaluated that malaria being a public health concern in the selected population highlights the vulnerability towards the change in climate as well as their increased sensitivity towards malarial mosquitoes. The research was carried out focusing on the time series method which was intended to evaluate the incidence of malaria associated with the weather as well as changing climate. The changing climate, as well as weather, accounted for increased or fluctuation in temperature, precipitation as well as change in global phenomena associated with climate (Imai et al. 2016, p 4). The research findings confirm that change in local weather has an increased influence on the increased risk of malaria within the target population along with a significant association with the change in global climate. The research highlighted a major literature gap where it appropriately discusses the local weather which is highly identified within the selected region’s weather in Papua New Guinea population colonized (Imai et al. 2016, p 4).

Another significant research was carried out by a researcher Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. (2021, p. 2), which highlighted the transmission of malaria within the depopulation of Papua New Guinea. It focused on assessing the social, cultural as well as other demographic factors which have a significant impact on the change in the epidemiology of malaria within the target population. The research was carried out using a mixed-method design where two significant sites in the Papua New Guinea population were selected as the target sample. These selected target populations were involved in in-depth interviews, and discussions as well as cross-sectional survey based on malaria indicators but further implemented in the research to sustain a wide range of evidence (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2021, p. 2). The reason for the study identified that majority of the population spends this substantial amount of time in the outdoor settings which increased their risk to get exposed to increase mosquito bites. It was found that living within the outdoor setting, sleeping in the outdoor environment as well as increased mosquito bites were the factors highly associated with the increased prevalence of malaria within the Papua New Guinea population. It was also found that adult men had an increased risk of malaria due to working in the outdoor settings still late at night and also sleeping outside (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2021, p. 2).

Synthesis Table:

Conclusion

To conclude it can be stated that Australia has an increased prevalence of malaria despite eradication of the condition as one of the major public health concerns. It has been found that the Papua New Guinea population under administrative rule of Australian territory sustains an increased prevalence of malaria and thus serves as a public health concern. It has been found that there are several factors which serve in increased risk of malaria within the population such as poverty, climate change, diversity, cultural values as well as maintaining significant hygiene and healthy routine. After conducting the literature it has been found that there is a significant gap in the literature which precisely focuses on the Papua New general population as well as the biodiversity and the socio-economic condition they live which exposes them to increased risk of malaria and associated complications first of all so further research must be carried out to assess the significant treatment facilities and policies that are provided to them to fight against the prevalence of malaria.

References: