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

• the state of poor health (from Latin morbidus: sick, unhealthy)
• the degree or severity of a health condition
• the prevalence of a health condition: 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 period
• disability, irrespective of cause (for instance, disability caused by accidents)

The term morbidity rate can refer to either the incidence rate, or the prevalence 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.

[edit] See also

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

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