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In epidemiology, the prevalence of a disease in a statistical population is defined as the total number of cases of the disease in the population at a given time, or the total number of cases in the population, divided by the number of individuals in the population. The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ...
In statistics, a statistical population is a set of entities concerning which statistical inferences are to be drawn, often based on a random sample taken from the population. ...
For example, the prevalence of obesity among American adults in 2001 was estimated by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) at approximately 20.9%. In plain English, "prevalence" simply means "proportion" (typically expressed as a percentage).
Prevalence is useful because it is a measure of the commonality of disease. It helps physicians with the probability of certain diagnoses and is routinely used by epidemiologists, health care providers, government agencies, and insurance companies. The Doctor by Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ...
In general, a diagnosis (plural diagnoses) has two distinct dictionary definitions. ...
Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine. ...
Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions. ...
Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. ...
Prevalence is distinct from incidence, which is a measure of the number of new cases. Prevalence involves all affected individuals, regardless of the date of contraction; whereas incidence only involves individuals who have newly contracted the disease during a specified time interval. The incidence of disease is defined as the number of new cases of disease occurring in a population during a defined time interval. ...
To illustrate, a disease with a long duration that was spread widely in a community in 2002 will have a high prevalence in 2003 (assuming it has a long duration) but it might have a low incidence rate in 2003. Conversely, a disease that is easily transmitted but has a short duration may have a low prevalence and a high incidence. Prevalence is a useful parameter when talking about long lasting infections, such as HIV, but incidence is more useful when talking about infections of short duration, such as chickenpox. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ...
For the South Park episode, see Chickenpox (South Park episode). ...
Lifetime prevalence (LTP) is the number of individuals in a statistical population that at some point in their life (up to the time of assessment) have experienced a "case" (e.g., a disorder), compared to the total number of individuals (i.e. it is expressed as a ratio or percentage). Often, a 12-month prevalence (or some other type of "period prevalence") is used in conjunction with lifetime prevalence. There is also point prevalence, the prevalence of disorder at a more specific (a month or less) point in time. There is also a related figure lifetime morbid risk - the theoretical prevalance at any point in life for anyone, regardless of time of assessment. (example: Synopsis of article on "How Prevalent Is Schizophrenia?" from Public Library of Science)
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