In medicine, epidemiology and actuarial science, the term morbidity can refer to
- the state of poor health (from Latin morbidus: sick, unhealthy),
- the degree or severity of a health condition,
- the prevalence of a health condition: the total number of cases in a particular population at a particular point in time,
- the incidence of a disease: the number of new cases in a particular population during a particular time interval.
- disability irrespective of cause (e.g., disability caused by accidents).
The term morbidity rate can refer either to the incidence rate or to the prevalence rate of a disease. Compare this with the mortality rate of a condition, which is the number of people dying during a given time interval, divided by the total number of people in the population. Morbidity is often measured by ICU scoring systems.
See also
|
