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Glossary of terms used in health research - G

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  • Gatekeeper
    • A primary care physician/general practitioner (or another provider) who is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all the medical needs of a patient. The gatekeeper must authorize any referral of the patient to a specialist or hospital.
  • Gender
    • Wikipedia
      Gender is a dynamic concept, which looks at the interrelationship between men and women in the context of their society and roles in that society. Gender roles are defined as the social and cultural traits that different societies assign to males and females. Such gender roles are the patterns of behavior, rights and obligations defined by a society as appropriate for each sex. A gender perspective is a way of looking at situations and issues taking into account the respective roles and contributions of men and women in society.
  • Gender identity
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Gender identity (otherwise known as core gender identity) is the gender(s), or lack thereof, a person self-identifies as. It is not necessarily based on biological fact, either real or perceived, nor is it always based on sexual orientation.
      A person's concept of self as being male and masculine or female and feminine, or ambivalent, based in part on physical characteristics, parental responses, and psychological and social pressures. It is the internal experience of gender role.
  • General estimated mortality rate, adjusted by age
    • The estimated total number of deaths in a population of a given sex, divided by the total number of that population after removing the effect of differences in the age distribution, expressed per 100,000 population, for a given year, in a given country, territory, or geographic area.
  • General fertility rate
    • The number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15-44 or 15-49 years in a given year.
  • General government expenditure on health
    • General government expenditure on health (GGHE) comprises the direct outlays earmarked for the enhancement of the health status of the population and/or the distribution of medical-care goods and services in the population by the following financing agents: central/federal, state/provincial/regional, and local/municipal authorities; extrabudgetary agencies, social security schemes; parastatals. All can be financed through domestic funds or through external resources.
  • General government expenditure on health as a percentage of total expenditure on health
    • Level of general government expenditure on health (GGHE) expressed as a percentage of total expenditure on health (THE).
  • General government expenditure on health as a percentage of total government expenditure
    • Level of general government expenditure on health (GGHE) expressed as a percentage of total government expenditure.
  • Generalizability
    • Wikipedia
      The extent to which the findings of a clinical trial can be reliably extrapolated from the subjects who participated in the trial to a broader patient population and a broader range of clinical settings.
      Generalizability is the degree to which the results of a study or systematic review can be extrapolated to other circumstances, in particular to routine health-care situations.
  • Generation of allocation sequence
    • The procedure used to obtain the (random) sequence for making intervention assignments, such as use of a table of random numbers or a computerized random-number generator. Options such as simple randomization, blocked randomization, and stratified randomization are part of the generation of the allocation sequence.
  • Generic drug
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Drugs which are identical in chemical composition to a brand name pharmaceutical preparation, but produced by competitors after the firm’s patent expires.
      A pharmaceutical product, usually intended to be interchangeable with an innovator product, that is manufactured without a license from the innovator company and marketed after the expiry date of the patent or other exclusive rights.
      Drugs whose drug name is not protected by a trademark. They may be manufactured by several companies.
  • Generic health-related quality of life
    • Wikipedia
      Generic health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures contain items covering all relevant areas of HRQL. They are designed for administration to people with any kind of underlying health problem (or no problem at all). Generic HRQL measures allow comparisons across diseases or conditions.
  • Genetic epidemiology
    • Wikipedia
      Genetic epidemiology is the study of the role of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations, and the interplay of such genetic factors with environmental factors.
  • Genetic research
    • MeSH
      Research into the cause, transmission, amelioration, elimination, or enhancement of inherited disorders and traits.
  • Geometric mean
    • Wikipedia
      The geometric mean, in mathematics, is a type of mean or average, which indicates the central tendency or typical value of a set of numbers.
      The mean or average of a set of data measured on a logarithmic scale.
  • Gestational age
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Age of an embryo or fetus calculated by adding 2 weeks (14 days) to the number of completed weeks since fertilization. Note: for frozen/thawed embryo transfers, an estimated date of fertilization is computed by subtracting the embryo age at freezing from the transfer date of the FET cycle.
      The duration of pregnancy (and thus the age of fetus), measured from the first day of the last normal menstrual period or LMP. While it is the most practical basis for dating pregnancy, the LMP in fact occurs two or more weeks before conception. The LMP based gestational age is sometimes adjusted later during pregnancy on the basis of ultrasound examination.
      The age of the conceptus, beginning from the time of fertilization. In clinical obstetrics, the gestational age is often estimated as the time from the last day of the last menstruation which is about 2 weeks before ovulation and fertilization.
  • Global assessment variable
    • A single variable, usually a scale of ordered categorical ratings, which integrates objective variables and the investigator's overall impression about the state or change in state of a subject.
  • Global burden of disease
    • Wikipedia
      Refers to a WHO and World Bank study published in the World Development Report 1993 that measured the total loss of health resulting from diseases and injuries. Updated in 1996 and again in 2000, the study generates the most comprehensive and consistent set of estimates of mortality and morbidity by age, sex and region. The original report showed that infectious disease accounts for 43% of the global burden.
  • Global health
    • Wikipedia
      Global health refers to the transnational impacts of globalization upon health determinants and health problems which are the beyond the control of individual nations.
  • Goal free evaluation
    • Goal free evaluation is an assessment of all program effects, whether or not they are part of the intended objectives or goals.
  • Gold standard
    • Wikipedia
      The method, procedure, or measurement that is widely accepted as being the best available, against which new developments should be compared.
  • Good clinical practice
    • Wikipedia
      Standard for clinical studies which encompasses the design, conduct, monitoring, termination, audit, analyses, reporting and documentation of the studies and which ensures that the studies are scientifically and ethically sound and that the clinical properties of the pharmaceutical product under investigation are properly documented.
      A standard for the design, conduct, performance, monitoring, auditing, recording, analyses, and reporting of clinical trials that provides assurance that the data and reported results are credible and accurate, and that the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of trial subjects are protected.
  • Government programs
    • MeSH
      Programs and activities sponsored or administered by local, state, or national governments.
  • Government publications
    • MeSH
      Government publications [MeSH - publication type]: works consisting of documents issued by local, regional, or national governments or by their agencies or subdivisions.
  • Grantsmanship
    • The ability to secure grants to support research projects.
  • Gravidity
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Number of previous pregnancies (as distinguished from parity, the number of previous births).
      The number of pregnancies, complete or incomplete, experienced by a female. It is different from parity, which is the number of offspring borne.
  • Grey literature
    • Wikipedia
      Grey literature is the kind of material that is not published in easily accessible journals or databases. It includes things like conference proceedings that include the abstracts of the research presented at conferences, unpublished theses, and so on.
  • Gross primary enrollment ratio
    • Wikipedia
      Total number of pupils or of a given sex enrolled in primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the corresponding population of the age group, which officially corresponds to primary schooling, at a specific period of time, usually a year, for a given country, territory, or geographic area. According to the 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97), adopted by UNESCO, primary education is defined as the level of education which the main function is to provide the basic elements of education at such establishments as elementary schools, and primary schools.
  • Gross reproduction rate
    • Wikipedia
      The average number of daughters that would be born alive to a woman (or group of women) during her lifetime if she passed through her childbearing years conforming to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year.
  • Group practice
    • MeSH
      Any group of three or more full-time physicians organized in a legally recognized entity for the provision of health care services, sharing space, equipment, personnel and records for both patient care and business management, and who have a predetermined arrangement for the distribution of income.
  • Growth rate
    • Wikipedia
      The number of people added to (or subtracted from) a population in a year due to natural increase and net migration expressed as a percentage of the population at the beginning of the time period.
  • Guidance
    • Guidance is information or counseling as to how or where a particular disease or situation can be handled. Guidance can be given orally, in written documents or through the media (television, internet, videos). In clinical practice the purpose of guidance is to help people make their own decisions based on their values. Within health care the purpose of guidance is to instruct the healthcare providers in the optimal use of resources.
  • Guideline
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate interventions for specific circumstances. Guidelines often include a set of recommendations or steps that can be followed when implementing an intervention. The content of guidelines are commonly based on available research evidence. Other terms used for guidelines: practice guidance, clinical guidelines, guides, practice recommendations.
      Recommendations or suggestions for organizing or delivering services of various types. Guidelines are distinguished from regulations by their voluntary nature, but adherence is generally facilitated by professional expectations rather than formal requirements. Guidelines for public health activities, such as those for laboratory standards, are distinguished from clinical guidelines, which describe interventions that are indicated (or not indicated) in the diagnosis and management of specific diseases or conditions. Increasingly, the development of clinical guidelines is informed by scientific evidence of the benefit of the recommended procedures, thus giving rise to the field known as “evidence-based medicine”. The development of administrative guidelines is more often based on evidence from practice of systematically poor quality when certain structural elements of health systems are not appropriately or adequately maintained.
      Guideline [MeSH - publication type]: works consisting of a set of statements, directions, or principles presenting current or future rules or policy. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, organizations such as professional societies or governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form, but it is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any discipline or activity. This concept relates to the general conduct and administration of health care activities rather than to specific decisions for a particular clinical condition. For that aspect, practice guideline is available.