Primary, secondary, and tertiary refer to which concept?

• A. Prevention
• B. Therapy
• C. Diagnosis
• D. Intervention

Answer: (A)

Levels of prevention in health care describe how actions are organized to keep people healthy and to minimize harm from disease. Primary prevention aims to stop a disease from starting by addressing risk factors and promoting protective factors—think immunizations, safety education, and healthy lifestyle promotion. Secondary prevention is about catching disease early to reduce its impact, using screening and prompt early treatment. Tertiary prevention focuses on reducing damage and disability once a disease exists, through rehabilitation and ongoing management. These terms form a framework for prevention rather than describing treatment (therapy), identifying illness (diagnosis), or simply taking action after illness begins (intervention). So the concept described is prevention.