Question

Primordial prevention is done to prevent the development of?

• A. Disease
• B. Risk factors
• C. Impairment
• D. Disability

Hint:

It is the earliest level, acting before the disease itself even has its drivers.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: There are four levels of prevention: primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary. They are arranged according to how early in the natural history of disease they act.

Step 2: Primordial prevention is the earliest level. It aims to prevent the very emergence or development of risk factors in a population or country where those risk factors have not yet appeared. So the target here is the risk factor itself, not the disease.

Step 3: The main modes of intervention are individual education and mass education that discourage unhealthy lifestyles before they become established. This makes primordial prevention the best level of prevention for non-communicable diseases.

Step 4: Disease (option a) is prevented by primary prevention, while impairment and disability (options c and d) are addressed by secondary and tertiary prevention. Hence the correct answer is risk factors.