🌎 Preventive & Social Medicine
UPSC CMS PSM Questions
Preventive and Social Medicine (PSM) is a distinct and high-scoring component of UPSC CMS Paper II. It covers epidemiology, biostatistics, national health programmes, nutrition, environmental health, and community medicine — topics directly relevant to the role of a government medical officer.
About PSM in UPSC CMS
PSM is particularly important for UPSC CMS because government medical officers are primarily involved in public health implementation. Questions test understanding of national health programmes (NHM, RNTCP, NACP, NVBDCP), epidemiological study designs, statistical measures, and health administration.
The primary reference is Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine (KK Park). PSM accounts for approximately 40–50 questions in CMS Paper II and is considered one of the most scoring subjects if prepared systematically.
Important PSM Topics for UPSC CMS
✨ High-Yield Areas
Epidemiology: Study designs (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, RCT), epidemiological measures (incidence, prevalence, attack rate, case fatality rate), measures of association (relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk), outbreak investigation steps.
Biostatistics: Types of data, measures of central tendency and dispersion, normal distribution, hypothesis testing (null hypothesis, p-value, type I and II errors), chi-square test, t-test, sensitivity and specificity, PPV and NPV, ROC curve, NNT.
National Health Programmes: RNTCP/NTEP (TB elimination strategy, DOTS, drug-resistant TB), NACP (HIV testing, ART guidelines), NVBDCP (malaria elimination, kala-azar, filariasis, dengue), NPCB (blindness control), National Immunization Programme (UIP), Mission Indradhanush, PMJAY, Ayushman Bharat.
Demography and Health Indicators: Crude birth rate, crude death rate, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, total fertility rate, dependency ratio, population pyramid, NFHS-5 key indicators.
Nutrition: PEM (kwashiorkor vs marasmus, MUAC cutoffs), ICDS programme, mid-day meal scheme, vitamin A supplementation, anaemia control programmes, iodine deficiency disorders.
Environmental Health: Water treatment (chlorination, slow sand filtration, break-point chlorination), water quality standards (coliforms), solid waste management, biomedical waste (BMW Rules 2016), air pollution (NAAQS), occupational health.
Health Administration: Primary Health Centre (PHC) functions and catchment area, Sub-centre norms, CHC specialists, ASHA functions and eligibility, ANM, LHV, PHC doctor roles, Bhore Committee, Mudaliar Committee recommendations.
Immunology and Vaccines: Cold chain maintenance, VVM, types of immunity, herd immunity thresholds, contraindications to vaccines, Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), pulse polio programme.
Biostatistics: Types of data, measures of central tendency and dispersion, normal distribution, hypothesis testing (null hypothesis, p-value, type I and II errors), chi-square test, t-test, sensitivity and specificity, PPV and NPV, ROC curve, NNT.
National Health Programmes: RNTCP/NTEP (TB elimination strategy, DOTS, drug-resistant TB), NACP (HIV testing, ART guidelines), NVBDCP (malaria elimination, kala-azar, filariasis, dengue), NPCB (blindness control), National Immunization Programme (UIP), Mission Indradhanush, PMJAY, Ayushman Bharat.
Demography and Health Indicators: Crude birth rate, crude death rate, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, total fertility rate, dependency ratio, population pyramid, NFHS-5 key indicators.
Nutrition: PEM (kwashiorkor vs marasmus, MUAC cutoffs), ICDS programme, mid-day meal scheme, vitamin A supplementation, anaemia control programmes, iodine deficiency disorders.
Environmental Health: Water treatment (chlorination, slow sand filtration, break-point chlorination), water quality standards (coliforms), solid waste management, biomedical waste (BMW Rules 2016), air pollution (NAAQS), occupational health.
Health Administration: Primary Health Centre (PHC) functions and catchment area, Sub-centre norms, CHC specialists, ASHA functions and eligibility, ANM, LHV, PHC doctor roles, Bhore Committee, Mudaliar Committee recommendations.
Immunology and Vaccines: Cold chain maintenance, VVM, types of immunity, herd immunity thresholds, contraindications to vaccines, Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), pulse polio programme.
High-Yield Topics for UPSC CMS PSM (2020–2025)
Based on analysis of all 261 PSM questions across six years of UPSC CMS papers, these topics have appeared most frequently:
| Topic | Questions (2020–25) |
|---|---|
| Communicable Diseases | 54 |
| Biostatistics | 25 |
| Immunization | 24 |
| Non-communicable Diseases | 22 |
| Nutrition | 20 |
| Epidemiology | 19 |
| Environmental Health | 19 |
| Occupational Health | 13 |
| Maternal Health | 13 |
| Demography | 11 |
How PSM Questions Have Changed from 2020 to 2025
PSM has consistently tested Communicable Diseases as the single largest topic, but Non-communicable Diseases and Biostatistics have grown significantly since 2023, mirroring India's epidemiological transition and UPSC's increasing emphasis on public health data interpretation. Recent papers (2024–2025) also test more National Health Programme specifics (NHM, Ayushman Bharat, NTEP) than earlier years.
Key Textbooks and Chapters
📚 Primary Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine (27th ed.)
- Epidemiology & Biostatistics — Ch. 6 (study designs, screening tests)
- Communicable Diseases — Ch. 5, 8-9, 14-16 (TB, malaria, vaccine-preventable disease)
- Non-communicable Diseases — Ch. 6, 27 (NCD risk factors, national programmes)
- Environmental & Occupational Health — Ch. 13, 30
- National Health Programmes — Ch. 2, 8, 24 (NHM, immunization, maternal health)
Practice PSM PYQs Online
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