Sir U. answered 09/21/23
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Incidence is the number of new cases of a disease in a population over a specified period of time. Prevalence is the proportion of a population that has a disease at a given time. Prevalence is dependent on incidence and duration, which is the average length of time that a person has the disease.
If the incidence of a chronic disease declines, but the number of deaths increases, it means that people are living longer with the disease. This will lead to an increase in prevalence, as more people will have the disease at any given time.
Here is an example:
Imagine a population of 100 people, and a chronic disease with an incidence of 10 new cases per year and a duration of 10 years. This means that every year, there are 10 new cases of the disease, and each person with the disease lives for an average of 10 years.
At any given time, there will be 100 people with the disease, because 10 new cases are added each year and each person with the disease lives for an average of 10 years. This is the prevalence of the disease.
Now, imagine that the incidence of the disease declines to 5 new cases per year, but the duration of the disease increases to 20 years. This means that there are fewer new cases of the disease each year, but each person with the disease lives for longer.
At any given time, there will now be 200 people with the disease, because 5 new cases are added each year and each person with the disease lives for an average of 20 years. This is an increase in prevalence, even though the incidence of the disease has declined.
This is why it is important to consider both incidence and prevalence when measuring the impact of a chronic disease on a population.
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