Community Medicine (PSM) · Demography and Health Indicators

The 'Lorenz curve' in public health is used to measure:

  • A Maternal mortality trends over time
  • B Equity and inequality in health resource distribution (associated with Gini coefficient)
  • C Population pyramid for age-sex distribution
  • D Incidence of notifiable communicable diseases
Correct answer: B. Equity and inequality in health resource distribution (associated with Gini coefficient)

Explanation

The Lorenz curve graphically represents income or resource inequality — the x-axis shows the cumulative percentage of the population and the y-axis shows the cumulative percentage of income/resource share. The Gini coefficient is the ratio of the area between the Lorenz curve and the line of equality to the total area below the equality line (ranges 0 to 1; 0 = perfect equality, 1 = perfect inequality). It is widely used in health equity analysis.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.

Sponsored

Want to test yourself?

Create a free account for timed mock tests, mistake tracking, and FSRS spaced-repetition revision across 23,000+ MCQs.

Start free → Log in

More Demography and Health Indicators MCQs

See all Demography and Health Indicators MCQs →