Prevalence is defined as the number of observation units in a population presenting specific conditions or characteristics at a particular point in time divided by the total number of observation units in the population at that time. Prevalence , in epidemiology, the proportion of a population with a disease or a particular condition at a specific point in time (point prevalence ) or over a specified period of time (period prevalence ). Prevalence is often confused with incidence, which is concerned only with the measure of new Learn the difference between incidence and prevalence in epidemiology with clear definitions and real-world examples that make the concepts easy to grasp. In medical epidemiology, prevalence is defined as the proportion of the population with a condition at a specific point in time (point prevalence ) or during a period of time (period prevalence ). [1] Prevalence increases when new disease cases are identified (incidence), and prevalence decreases when a patient is either cured or dies. Many times, the period prevalence will provide a more accurate picture of the overall prevalence since period prevalence includes all individuals with the ...
