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 what is measured by
ICU scoring systems.