Morbidity

In medicine, epidemiology and actuarial science, the term morbidity can refer to

• the state of being diseased (from Latin morbidus: sick, unhealthy),
• the degree or severity of a disease,
• the prevalence of a disease: 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

• Comorbidity
• Morbidity & Mortality about the medical conference
• Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report a publication