Dictionary Definition
prevalent adj : encountered generally especially
at the present time; "the prevailing opinion was that a trade war
could be averted"; "the most prevalent religion in our area";
"speculation concerning the books author was rife" [syn: prevailing, rife]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Adjective
- widespread, preferred method
- superior, dominant
Translations
widespread, preferred
- Czech: převládající
See also
Extensive Definition
Definition
In epidemiology, the prevalence of a disease in a statistical
population is defined as the total number of cases of the
disease in the population at a given time, or the total number of
cases in the population, divided by the number of individuals in
the population.
Mathematically prevalence can be defined as
follows
let a = the number of individuals in the
population with the disease at a given time
let b = the number of individuals in the
population without the disease at a given time
Prevalence = \frac
Examples and Utility
For example, the prevalence of obesity among American adults in 2001 was estimated by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) at approximately 20.9%. In plain English, "prevalence" simply means "extent", but in scientific English it means "proportion" (typically expressed as a percentage).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 distinct from incidence.
Prevalence is a measurement of all individuals affected by the
disease at a given point in time, regardless of the date of
contraction; whereas incidence is a measurement of individuals who
contract the disease during a specified time interval.
To illustrate, a long term disease that was
spread widely in a community in 2002 will have a high
prevalence at a given point of 2003 (assuming it has
a long duration) but it might have a low incidence rate during
2003. Conversely, a disease that is easily transmitted but has a
short duration is spread widely during 2002 is likely to have a low
prevalence at any given point in 2003 (due to its short duration)
but a high incidence during 2003 (as many people develop the
disease). As such, prevalence is a useful parameter when talking
about long lasting diseases, such as HIV, but incidence is
more useful when talking about diseases of short duration, such as
chickenpox.
Lifetime prevalence (LTP) is the number of
individuals in a statistical population that at some point in their
life (up to the time of assessment) have experienced a "case"
(e.g., a disorder), compared to the total number of individuals
(i.e. it is expressed as a ratio or percentage). Often, a 12-month
prevalence (or some other type of "period prevalence") is used in
conjunction with lifetime prevalence. There is also point
prevalence, the prevalence of disorder at a more specific (a month
or less) point in time. There is also a related figure lifetime
morbid risk - the theoretical prevalence at any point in life for
anyone, regardless of time of assessment. (example:
Synopsis of article on "How Prevalent Is Schizophrenia?" from
Public Library of Science)
See also
prevalent in Catalan: Prevalença
prevalent in German: Prävalenz
prevalent in Spanish: Prevalencia
prevalent in French: Prévalence
prevalent in Italian: Prevalenza
(medicina)
prevalent in Japanese: 有病割合
prevalent in Dutch: Prevalentie
prevalent in Norwegian: Prevalens
prevalent in Polish: Chorobowość
prevalent in Russian: Болезненность
prevalent in Slovak: Prevalencia
prevalent in Swedish: Prevalens
prevalent in Chinese: 患病数
External links
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abounding, abundant, accepted, accidental, accompanying, ado, affluent, afloat, afoot, all the rage, all the
thing, all-sufficing, ample, aplenty, ascendant, at the head,
average, being, besetting, boss, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, catholic, chief, circumstantial, commanding, common, commonplace, conformable, consuetudinary, controlling, conventional, copious, current, customary, diffuse, doing, dominant, effuse, epidemic, established, eventuating, everyday, exhaustless, existent, existing, extant, extensive, extravagant, exuberant, familiar, fashionable, fat, fertile, flush, frequent, frequentative, full, galore, general, generally accepted,
generous, going on,
governing, habitual, happening, head, hegemonic, hegemonistic, hip, in ascendancy, in being, in
charge, in chief, in effect, in existence, in fashion, in force, in
hand, in plenty, in quantity, in style, in the ascendant, in the
wind, in vogue, incidental, inexhaustible, lavish, leading, liberal, living, luxuriant, many, many times, master, maximal, mod, modern, much, new, newfashioned, normal, not rare, numerous, obtaining, occasional, occurring, of common
occurrence, oft-repeated, oftentime, omnipresent, on, on foot, ongoing, opulent, ordinary, overbearing, overflowing, pandemic, paramount, passing, pervasive, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, popular, predominant, predominate, predominating, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prescribed, prescriptive, present, prevailing, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, rampant, received, recurrent, regnant, regular, regulating, regulation, regulative, regulatory, reigning, replete, resultant, rich, rife, riotous, routine, ruling, running, running over, set, smart, sovereign, standard, stereotyped, stock, subsistent, subsisting, superabundant, supreme, taking place, teeming, thick-coming,
time-honored, traditional, trendy, ubiquitous, under the sun,
under way, universal,
up-to-date, up-to-datish, up-to-the-minute, usual, wealthy, well-found,
well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale, widespread, wonted