What is Morbidity? Why is it Important from a Public Health Perspective?
The question of what morbidity is is among the questions that are increasingly important for the health of societies today. Throughout human history, many epidemics have occurred due to various bacteria and viruses. While some of these epidemics affect human communities living in a certain geography; Some of them are spread all over the world.
Those that occur in a certain region and are rapidly contagious depending on the population are called epidemics. Those that affect the whole world and spread very quickly are called pandemics. We can say that the importance of the concept of morbidity lies precisely here. Today, the concept is of great importance in terms of predicting the extent of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus.
In its most general sense, morbidity is the term used to compare the number of people infected with an infectious disease to those who remain healthy. Thanks to this term, not only the health industries of the states but also all areas of activity can benefit.
Why is the Term Morbidity Important?
Many epidemic diseases have managed to affect the world from past to present. While some of these diseases affect a specific region, some have affected the whole world for many years. The most well-known ones include Plague, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Cholera, Malaria, Typhus, Influenza and Ebola. Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has affected the world.
So how do we know the toll of the damage caused by all these viruses and bacteria? Do average data lead us to conclusions? Or are the result calculations made based on scientifically obtained data? The importance of the term morbidity emerges once again here. Thanks to the opportunities provided by the media, nations have tracked various disease rates throughout the pandemic. We should point out that today's knowledge about infectious diseases is largely archived thanks to this term.
The Relationship Between Morbidity Table and Public Health
The morbidity table is useful to reveal the transmission rate and lethality of the disease during a specific epidemic period. It should be emphasized that this table is of vital importance for the continuation of daily life. Features such as the transmission rate of the infectious disease and its distribution by gender and age groups are taken into account.
It also helps to early identify groups affected by the rate of infection. Thus, information is obtained about the distribution of the disease according to the population. Precautions are taken for groups deemed to be under threat. Considering all these, the morbidity table is of great importance for public health. Let us remind you that the morbidity table is as important as the question of what morbidity is.
What are the Basic Morbidity Measures?
We tried to adequately answer the question of what morbidity is. We can now examine how the term morbidity collects data scientifically. As in every scientific research, there are basic criteria in this field. In general, these metrics focus on the rate, rate, and proportion of a particular disease. In line with this data, the groups that need to be taken into consideration are determined and the health sector takes the necessary precautions.
Basic morbidity measures are divided into three. These are categorized as Incidence, Attack Rates and Prevalence respectively. Incidence represents the population that is not yet infected but is under threat. Proportionally speaking, it is calculated by dividing the new recorded cases by the entire population. Prevalence, another concept, is divided into two: point and duration.
Point prevalence allows determining the number of all old and new cases in a given period. It is calculated by proportionally dividing all cases occurring at a certain time in society by the healthy population. Duration prevalence quantifies the number of cases occurring in a given period of time.