FMGE Community Medicine (PSM) questions

1. Q1. Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day is held at the anganwadi centre to deliver immunisation, antenatal checks and nutrition counselling. How often is it held?

   • A. Once a week
   • B. Once a month
   • C. Once a quarter
   • D. Twice a year

   Answer: B. Once a month

2. Q2. In the disaster management cycle, which phase directly follows the response phase?

   • A. Mitigation
   • B. Preparedness
   • C. Impact
   • D. Recovery and rehabilitation

   Answer: D. Recovery and rehabilitation

3. Q3. A woman with iron deficiency anaemia is counselled about her diet. Which of the following most reduces absorption of dietary non-haem iron?

   • A. Tannins in tea taken with meals
   • B. Ascorbic acid from citrus fruit
   • C. Germination of pulses
   • D. Fermentation of cereals

   Answer: A. Tannins in tea taken with meals

4. Q4. Fertility, mortality and migration are together described as which of the following?

   • A. The demographic dividend
   • B. The demographic window
   • C. The components of demographic change
   • D. The epidemiological transition

   Answer: C. The components of demographic change

5. Q5. ANMOL was introduced to support auxiliary nurse midwives in the field. What does it provide?

   • A. A monthly printed register delivered to sub-centres
   • B. A tablet-based application for recording and updating beneficiary data at the point of service
   • C. A telephone helpline for antenatal advice
   • D. A televised training series

   Answer: B. A tablet-based application for recording and updating beneficiary data at the point of service

1. Q1. A new chronic disease appears in a population. Incidence climbs steadily, and treatment prolongs survival without curing anyone. What happens to prevalence?

   • A. It rises, because prevalence reflects both new cases and longer duration
   • B. It falls, because incidence and prevalence move in opposite directions
   • C. It is unchanged, because prevalence is independent of incidence
   • D. It rises only once the disease becomes curable

   Answer: A. It rises, because prevalence reflects both new cases and longer duration

2. Q2. A gym owner notices that members who drink a particular beverage during workouts lose more weight, and concludes the drink causes the loss. Those members also train more often. How is the observed association best described?

   • A. A direct causal association
   • B. A dose-response association
   • C. Reverse causality, since losing weight leads people to choose the drink
   • D. A confounded association, since training frequency is linked to both the drink and the weight loss

   Answer: D. A confounded association, since training frequency is linked to both the drink and the weight loss

1. Q1. Investigators identify children who have autism and children who do not, then look back at their vaccination records. What design is this, and which measure of association can it yield?

   • A. A cohort study, yielding a relative risk
   • B. A cross-sectional study, yielding a prevalence ratio
   • C. A randomised trial, yielding an absolute risk reduction
   • D. A case-control study, yielding an odds ratio

   Answer: D. A case-control study, yielding an odds ratio

2. Q2. Which of the following is not a component of India's Reproductive and Child Health programme?

   • A. Adult literacy and women's economic empowerment
   • B. Safe motherhood and antenatal care
   • C. Newborn and child health services
   • D. Management of reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections

   Answer: A. Adult literacy and women's economic empowerment

1. Q1. A country's population is ageing while its birth rate falls. Which change contributes most to its rising dependency burden?

   • A. A falling young-age dependency ratio
   • B. A rising old-age dependency ratio
   • C. A falling old-age dependency ratio
   • D. A rising crude birth rate

   Answer: B. A rising old-age dependency ratio

2. Q2. Blood is spilt on the operating theatre floor. Which agent should be used to decontaminate the spill, and why?

   • A. An alcohol-based solution, because it evaporates without residue
   • B. A quaternary ammonium compound, because it is non-corrosive
   • C. A phenolic compound, because it is sporicidal
   • D. A chlorine-releasing agent such as 1% sodium hypochlorite, because it is effective against blood-borne viruses in the presence of organic matter

   Answer: D. A chlorine-releasing agent such as 1% sodium hypochlorite, because it is effective against blood-borne viruses in the presence of organic matter

1. Q1. A patient from a north-eastern state has uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Under the national programme, what is the recommended treatment?

   • A. Chloroquine for three days
   • B. Artemisinin-based combination therapy, with primaquine as a single dose
   • C. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine alone
   • D. Mefloquine alone

   Answer: B. Artemisinin-based combination therapy, with primaquine as a single dose

2. Q2. How is the maternal mortality ratio defined, and why is it expressed against live births rather than population?

   • A. Maternal deaths per 1000 population, to allow comparison between districts
   • B. Maternal deaths per 1000 live births, matching the infant mortality rate
   • C. Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, because live births approximate the population at risk of pregnancy
   • D. Deaths of women of reproductive age per 100,000 population

   Answer: C. Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, because live births approximate the population at risk of pregnancy

1. Q1. Screening detects a disease earlier than it would otherwise have been diagnosed. What is the interval between screen detection and the usual clinical diagnosis called, and what bias does it create?

   • A. Generation time, creating selection bias
   • B. Incubation period, creating information bias
   • C. Lead time, creating an apparent gain in survival even if death is not postponed
   • D. Latent period, creating recall bias

   Answer: C. Lead time, creating an apparent gain in survival even if death is not postponed

2. Q2. In rural India, how large a population does one accredited social health activist normally serve?

   • A. About 500
   • B. About 1000
   • C. About 3000
   • D. About 5000

   Answer: B. About 1000

1. Q1. A man had a vasectomy four weeks ago. What contraceptive advice should the couple be given, and why?

   • A. No further precautions are needed
   • B. Continue additional contraception until azoospermia is confirmed, usually after about three months or 20 ejaculations
   • C. The woman should take oral contraceptives for one month
   • D. Hormonal treatment should be given to the man for two months

   Answer: B. Continue additional contraception until azoospermia is confirmed, usually after about three months or 20 ejaculations

2. Q2. How does WHO define blindness in terms of visual acuity in the better eye with best correction?

   • A. Less than 6/60
   • B. Less than 3/60
   • C. Less than 6/18
   • D. Less than 1/60

   Answer: B. Less than 3/60

1. Q1. What does NITI Aayog stand for, and what body did it replace?

   • A. Newer Initiative for Transforming India, replacing the Finance Commission
   • B. National Institution for Transforming India, replacing the Planning Commission
   • C. Nutrition Intake for India, replacing the Food Corporation
   • D. National Institute for Technology in India, replacing the UGC

   Answer: B. National Institution for Transforming India, replacing the Planning Commission

2. Q2. A community camp measures blood pressure and blood glucose in apparently well adults to detect undiagnosed disease. Which level of prevention is this?

   • A. Primordial prevention
   • B. Primary prevention
   • C. Secondary prevention, through early detection in the presymptomatic phase
   • D. Tertiary prevention

   Answer: C. Secondary prevention, through early detection in the presymptomatic phase

1. Q1. What does inertisation of biomedical waste achieve?

   • A. Incineration of infectious waste at high temperature
   • B. Autoclaving before landfill
   • C. Mixing waste with cement and lime so that toxic constituents cannot leach into groundwater
   • D. Segregation into colour-coded bags

   Answer: C. Mixing waste with cement and lime so that toxic constituents cannot leach into groundwater

2. Q2. Which animal is the amplifier host for Japanese encephalitis, and why does that matter for control?

   • A. Cattle, which are the preferred feed source
   • B. Pigs, which develop high viraemia without illness, so siting piggeries away from homes reduces transmission
   • C. Dogs, which are the reservoir
   • D. Ardeid birds, which are dead-end hosts

   Answer: B. Pigs, which develop high viraemia without illness, so siting piggeries away from homes reduces transmission

1. Q1. Which mosquito genus has spotted wings and rests at an angle to the surface, and which disease does it transmit?

   • A. Anopheles, transmitting malaria
   • B. Culex, transmitting filariasis
   • C. Aedes, transmitting dengue
   • D. Mansonia, transmitting brugian filariasis

   Answer: A. Anopheles, transmitting malaria

2. Q2. In the plains, one primary health centre is designed to serve a population of approximately how many?

   • A. 3000
   • B. 5000
   • C. 20000
   • D. 30000

   Answer: D. 30000

Every FMGE session paper, all 19 subjects together, is on our previous year questions page.