Information AboutPrevalence |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT PREVALENCE | |
| epidemiology | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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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. Prevalence is not to be confused with Incidence , which provides a measure of ''occurrences'' of a disease in a specified time interval. Prevalence involves all affected individuals, regardless of the date of contraction. 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 . Lifetime Prevalence (LTP) is ratio of the number of individuals in a statistical population that at some point in their life experiences a "case" (e.g., a disorder) and the total number of individuals. Often, a 12-month prevalence is used in conjunction with lifetime prevalence. SEE ALSO |