Question

What measures are used to compare the frequency of disease in populations and what information do they provide? Basic epidemiology Book 2nd Edition chapter 2 study questions

Answer 1

Following are the frequency measures used for disease frequency :

1. Prevalence

Prevalence measures the proportion of individuals in a defined population that have a disease or other health outcomes of interest at a specified point in time (point prevalence) or during a specified period of time (period prevalence).

2. Incidence

In contrast to prevalence, incidence is a measure of the number of new cases of a disease (or other health outcome of interest) that develops in a population at risk during a specified time period.

3. Age specific mortality rate : measures the number of deaths in a specific age group per year

4. Infant mortality rate : measures the number of deaths of children younger than 1 year per year.