Epidemiology is the study of the factors that affect a population’s health and deals with disease incidence, distribution, and control. The health of a population can be measured by assessing either the morbidity or mortality rates. Morbidity measures the number of sick people with a disease, while mortality measures the number of people who have died (Porche, 2022). This essay assesses how morbidity and mortality are employed in epidemiology to analyze disease trends.
Morbidity and mortality data are essential for developing prevention strategies to decrease disease burden and adverse health outcomes. By understanding how diseases progress and what factors contribute to poor health outcomes, we can develop targeted interventions that aim to improve the population’s health (Hernandez & Kim, 2021). For example, suppose a particular disease is increasing in incidence and morbidity. People can be prompted to take preventive measures like vaccines and hand washing through awareness created via public health campaigns.
Prevention strategies to increase attention to the disease and decrease adverse health outcomes typically begin with morbidity data. Health officials can develop targeted prevention and treatment initiatives by understanding how many people are affected by a disease. For instance, if the morbidity rate for a particular condition is increasing, public health officials may recommend increasing funding for research and development of new treatments. Morbidity data can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of existing prevention and treatment strategies (Porche, 2022). For instance, if the morbidity rate for disease decreases after a new prevention strategy is implemented, this may indicate that the design is working. Conversely, if the morbidity rate increases, this may mean that the method is not effective and needs to be revised.
If a disease increases in mortality, strategies can be developed to improve treatment and increase access to care. Mortality data can be used to understand the causes of death in a population and assess interventions’ impact on health outcomes (Porche, 2022). This information can also be used to identify groups at risk of death from a particular disease and to develop prevention strategies to mitigate them. For example, if a specific condition is found to be a leading cause of death in a population, interventions can be developed to address the needs of those at risk.
Mortality rates can be used to track progress on public health goals and objectives, depending on the effectiveness of measures employed by the public health departments. Besides, Mortality data can also be used to identify trends in disease. For example, if mortality rates for a particular illness are increasing for a specific population, this could be used to justify increasing resources for research into that illness (Pang et al., 2018). Mortality data can also be used to assess the effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies and inform public health policy.
Mortality is a better phenomenon to study to develop preventive strategies. This is because mortality data is used to understand the causes of death in a population and assess interventions’ impact on health outcomes. This information can identify groups at risk of dying from a particular condition and develop prevention strategies to reduce mortality rates. The number of deaths prevented is a more direct measure of the success of a preventive strategy than the number of people who develop a disease (Pang et al., 2018). This is because the number of people who develop may be affected by factors other than the preventive strategy, such as the natural history of the illness.
In conclusion, morbidity and mortality rates are necessary measures of disease burden and are used extensively in epidemiology. They compare the illness burden between different populations and monitor trends over time. However, there are several limitations to using morbidity and mortality rates, including that they do not take into account the severity of the condition, they only reflect a snapshot in time, and they can be affected by changes in coding practices. Mortality rates are generally preferable to morbidity rates as they are less affected by these limitations.
References
Hernandez, J. B., & Kim, P. (2021). Epidemiology morbidity and mortality.StatPearls. Web.
Pang, D. S., Rousseau-Blass, F., & Pang, J. M. (2018). Morbidity and mortality conferences: A mini-review and illustrated application in Veterinary Medicine. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 5.
Porche, D. (2022). Disease occurrence: Morbidity and mortality. Epidemiology for the Advanced Practice Nurse.