Morbidity as a measure of population health. Sources of information and methods of studying morbidity. International classification of diseases (ICD): (1/2)
Morbidity is the condition of being diseased. Main aspects of morbidity are commonly measured by morbidity rate, duration and severity.
Two types of morbidities: Incidence and Prevalence.
Incidence: the number of new cases occurring per unit of population per unit time. Incidence measures the rate at which new cases occur and registered in a population.
(Incidence rate= (total number of new cases of a given disease during a given period of time /total population at risk during the time period of time) x 1000)
Prevalence: disease prevalence refers to al the current and existing cases in a given population. Calculation of all old and new cases.
Period Prevalence: The number of people with a disease in a defined population over a period of time.
Point Prevalence: The number of people with a disease in a defined population at a point in time.
(Prevalence rate= (all new and preexisting cases of a specific disease during a given time period / total population during the same time period) x 1000)
Sources of Information:
- A wide variety of morbidity data are collected locally, nationally and on an ad hoc basis for a specific purpose.
- Source of information about morbidity is based upon hospital patient, general practice patient and people in general population and disease registers.
In considering how a particular source of morbidity data describes the disease problem in a population, it’s helpful to be aware of the iceberg phenomenon of the morbidity whereby on a proportion of patients make contact with the health services and particular with hospital services