ERIC: Incidence & Prevalence

Question 1

Dx Incidence

Answer 1

measure of new cases of a dx in at-risk populations

Question 2

Dx Prevalence

Answer 2

frequency of existing cases of a dx in at-risk populations

Question 3

When is dx INCIDENCE a more useful measure than dx PREVALENCE?

Answer 3

When you care about who rapidly new cases of a dx are occurring

Question 4

When is dx PREVALENCE a more useful measure than dx INCIDENCE?

Answer 4

When you care about the proportion of dx cases:total at risk population

or when you can’t readily identify the onset of a dx in a population

Question 5

Units for Incidence

Answer 5

cases/person:time

or

cases/population at risk

Question 6

Units for Prevalence

Answer 6

cases/total population at risk