Measuring Disease Frequency

These flashcards cover key definitions and concepts related to measuring disease frequency in epidemiology.

The number of times that something occurs.

Frequency

A method to provide different values of a variable and the number of observations within each value.

Frequency Distribution

Refers to the condition of being diseased or the incidence of disease in a population.

Morbidity

Refers to the incidence of death in a population.

Mortality

A relationship between two quantities, showing the number of times one value contains or is contained within the other.

Ratio

A type of ratio where the numerator is included in the denominator.

Proportion

The frequency of an event over a specified period of time.

Rate

A measure of the risk of becoming a case, referring only to new cases during a specified time.

Incidence

Total number of existing cases (new + pre-existing) at a given time relative to the population at risk.

Prevalence Rate

Measure of the frequency of morbidity in a population at risk, often used during outbreaks.

Attack Rate

The total number of deaths from all causes over a given period relative to the population.

Crude Mortality Rate

The proportion of cases of a specified disease that result in death.

Case Fatality Rate (CFR)

The group of individuals who are susceptible to the disease or condition being studied.

Population at Risk

Individuals who are diagnosed with a disease for the first time during a specified period.

New Cases

Individuals who are already diagnosed with a disease before the specified period begins.

Existing Cases