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PREVALENCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The quality of prevailing generally; being widespread
Example:
he was surprised by the prevalence of optimism about the future
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):
generality (the quality of being general or widespread or having general applicability)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prevalence"):
currency (general acceptance or use)
Derivation:
prevail (continue to exist)
prevalent (most frequent or common)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A superiority in numbers or amount
Example:
a preponderance of evidence against the defendant
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):
figure; number (the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals)
Derivation:
prevail (be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(epidemiology) the ratio (for a given time period) of the number of occurrences of a disease or event to the number of units at risk in the population
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):
ratio (the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient))
Domain category:
epidemiology (the branch of medical science dealing with the transmission and control of disease)
Context examples:
In humans, congenital heart defects occur with a prevalence of at least 1% in newborns, and are even more common in death before term.
(ALK Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
Prevalence is highest among Asians, Native Americans and Africans.
(Lactose Intolerance, NCI Thesaurus)
Individuals with greater variations in their bedtimes and in the hours they slept had a higher prevalence of metabolic problems, and these associations persisted after adjusting for average sleep duration.
(Study links irregular sleep patterns to metabolic disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Used for the scientific discipline as a whole or for specific epidemiological factors or findings (e.g., AIDS incidence or prevalence statistics).
(AIDS Epidemiology, NCI Thesaurus)
It is seen with increased frequency in regions with a high prevalence of celiac disease.
(Enteropathy-Associated T-Cell Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)
This study performed at Cairo University, Egypt, assessed the prevalence of grey hair in patients with coronary artery disease and whether it was an independent risk marker of disease.
(Grey Hair Linked with Increased Heart Disease Risk in Men, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Barrett points out that the Inuit of the region favoured female walruses when hunting, so the prevalence of females in Greenland’s later exports could imply a growing Norse reliance on Inuit supply.
(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)
Data are used to provide national estimates on the incidence of acute conditions, the prevalence of chronic conditions and impairments, the extent of disability, the utilization of health care services (physician visits and hospital episodes), and other health-related topics.
(National Health Interview Survey, NCI Thesaurus)
OCS workshops were held in 1996 and 1997 to define priorities for research, which included the prevalence of physical effects from cancer treatment, the prevalence of second cancers in survivors, quality of life, and quality and cost of follow-up care for survivors.
(Office of Cancer Survivorship, NCI Thesaurus)
The final Kepler catalog will serve as the foundation for more study to determine the prevalence and demographics of planets in the galaxy, while the discovery of the two distinct planetary populations shows that about half the planets we know of in the galaxy either have no surface, or lie beneath a deep, crushing atmosphere – an environment unlikely to host life.
(NASA Releases Kepler Survey Catalog with Hundreds of New Planet Candidates, NASA)
