FAQ: Where can I find definitions for terms commonly used in IHP-501?

Definitions and Examples

PLEASE NOTE: This FAQ is focused rather on definitions of common terms in healthcare that do not change significantly over the recommended five-year time frame used for assignments.

Clinical Symptoms: A symptom is a manifestation of disease apparent to the patient himself, while a sign is a manifestation of disease that the health provider perceives. The sign is objective evidence of disease; a symptom, subjective. Symptoms represent the complaints of the patient
This link opens in a new windowClinical Symptoms: A symptom is a manifestation of disease apparent to the patient himself, while a sign is a manifestation of disease that the health provider perceives. The sign is objective evidence of disease; a symptom, subjective. Symptoms represent the complaints of the patient. Chronic kidney disease (newly identified): Clinical presentation and diagnostic approach in adults This link opens in a new window .

Complementary or Integrative Health intervention: emphasizes multimodal interventions, which are two or more interventions such as conventional health care approaches (like medication, physical rehabilitation, psychotherapy), and complementary health approaches (like acupuncture, yoga, and probiotics) in various combinations, with an emphasis on treating the whole person rather than, for example, one organ system. See Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health This link opens in a new window

Conventional intervention: conventional medical practices including medications, physical rehabilitation, and/or psychotherapy focusing on specific individual body systems sometimes referred to as Western medicine.

Ethnography: Ethnography is a specific naturalistic written description of the folk” and refers to both a specific naturalistic research method and the written product of that method. As a research process, ethnography is a comparative method for investigating patterns of human behavior and cognition through observations and interactions in natural settings. As a written product, ethnography is a descriptive or interpretive analysis of the patterns of beliefs, behaviors, and norms of a culture. Ethnography

Etiology: the study of the causes of diseases or the cause of a disease. The study of the processes by which a disease is caused and transmitted, including the pathogens involved. Adjectives: etiologic, etiological. Example of etiology related to a specific disease see: Etiology of depression
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Healthcare Infrastructure: The US healthcare system does not provide universal coverage and can be defined as a mixed system, where publicly financed government Medicare and Medicaid health coverage coexists with privately financed (private health insurance plans) market coverage. Out-of-pocket payments and market provision of coverage predominate as a means of financing and providing healthcare. U.S. Healthcare System Overview-Background

Incidence: the number of times something happens in a specific population over a period of time or rate of occurrence or influence; especially the rate of occurrence of new cases of a particular disease in a population being studied. Incidence

Inequities: Despite improving health across the country over many generations there is still a large variation in health status, life expectancy, mortality and morbidity between different groups of people. Much of this is avoidable and unfair, and should more accurately be described as health inequity: an unjust distribution of health and healthcare. These differences in health outcomes are known as health inequalities. Inequities in Health

Prevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population having a disease, based on the total number of cases of that disease in existence at any given time in any given population (such as United States, sex, or race). It is often given as the number of cases per 100,000 people. Prevalence is used to illustrate the category of a disease. Prevalence

Quantitative evidence (data): Quantitative data collected in quantitative research are obtained by the use of measurement scales. There are three distinct types of scales: nominal, ordinal, and continuous. Nominal scales consist of two or more ungraded or unranked categories of variables, such as eye color (green, blue, brown) or political affiliation (Republican, Democrat). Ordinal scales possess categories that are ranked or graded from high to low, small to large, near to far. Graded scales, such as the Likert and Guttman scales, are commonly used in nursing research to measure intensity of opinions, attitudes, and other psychological variables. Quantitative Research

Social Justice: The term social justice references a social circumstance in which historical inequities between peoples based on various dimensions of social identity (e.g., race, class, gender) have been remedied so that measurable proportional equality across all peoples exists. Noted social justice educators Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin (2007) have defined a socially just society as one in which all members have their basic needs met and all individuals are physically and psychologically safe and secure, able to develop to their full capabilities, and to participate as effective citizens of their communities and nation. Social Justice

Social Stressors: Stress affects all systems of the body, from hormones and nervous system pathways to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal functioning. The cumulative burden of chronic stress and negative life events has been associated with poorer health outcomes, including an increased risk of inflammatory disease development and a suppressed immune system. Understanding Chronic Social Stressors What is Stress?

Symptomology: the branch of medicine concerned with the study and classification of the symptoms of disease. Example of symptomology in a disease see: Symptomology of West Nile Virus This link opens in a new window

References

Cassell, D., K., & Rose, N. (2017). Prevalence. In D. K. Cassell & N. Rose, Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Autoimmune Diseases (2nd ed.). Facts On File. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDc1MTgxNw==?aid=105049

Clark, C., & Fasching-Varner, K. (2014). Social justice. In S. Thompson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice (1st ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDMyNTg0?summaryArticle=true&aid=105049

Close, N. (2009). Inequalities in health. In F. Wilson & M. Mabhala (Eds.), Key Concepts in Public Health (1st ed.). Sage UK. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6MjczMTI1?aid=105049

de Leeuw, M., Verhoeve, S. I., van der Wee, N. J. A., van Hemert, A. M., Vreugdenhil, E., & Coomans, C. P. (2023). The role of the circadian system in the etiology of depression. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 153, 105383. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/snhu.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.neubiorev.2023.105383

Fatehi, P. & Hsu, Chi-yuan. (2022). Chronic kidney disease (newly identified): Clinical presentation and diagnostic approach in adults. UpToDate. Retrieved January 19, 2024 from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/chronic-kidney-disease-newly-identified-clinical-presentation-and-diagnostic-approach-in-adults

Kawar, L. N., Dunbar, G. B., Aquino-Maneja, E. M., Flores, S. L., Squier, V. R., & Failla, K. R.(2024). Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, and Triangulation Research Simplified. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/snhu.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.3928%2F00220124-20240328-03

Levine, E. (2017). Quantitative research. In J. Fitzpatrick (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Nursing Research (4th ed.). Springer Publishing Company. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDY3Nzk0Mg==?aid=105049

Merriam-Webster (Ed.). (2016). Incidence. In Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary (1st ed.). Merriam-Webster. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDE4MDc4Mg==?aid=105049

The Institute for Functional Medicine (2024, February). Understanding Chronic Social Stressors & Wellness Interventions. https://www.ifm.org/articles/understanding-chronic-social-stressors-wellness-interventions

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2024). Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: What’s in a name?; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-whats-in-a-name#:~:text=Integrative%20health%20also%20emphasizes%20multimodal,various%20combinations%2C%20with%20an%20emphasis

Onsongo, L., Daack-Hirsch, S., & Tripp-Reimer, T. (2017). Ethnography. In J. Fitzpatrick (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Nursing Research (4th ed.). Springer Publishing Company. https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDY3NzgyNg==?aid=105049

Splete, H., Fryer, J., & Mertz, L. (2020). West Nile virus. In Gale (Ed.), Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health. Gale. Retrieved January 18, 2024, from https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6ODUyMzY4?aid=105049

The American Institute of Stress. (2025). What is stress. 

      https://www.stress.org/what-is-stress/

The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research. (2025). U.S. Healthcare System Overview-Background. https://www.ispor.org/heor-resources/more-heor-resources/us-healthcare-system-overview/us-healthcare-system-overview-background-page-1

Citing Your Sources

You will find sample citations see and APA style guide APA Style: Basics. For additional assistance with citations, please contact our Academic Support team.

For Further Assistance

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