Morbidity is defined as

• A. The number of people who are infected or have the disease
• B. The population at risk
• C. The rate at which new cases occur
• D. The distribution of disease by geography

Answer: (A)

Morbidity refers to the presence of disease in a population—the actual number of people who have the disease or are infected. This reflects the disease burden on a community at a given time or over a period. It’s different from the population at risk (the group susceptible to getting the disease), from the rate of new cases (incidence), or from geographic distribution (where the disease occurs). For example, if 100 people in a town of 5,000 have hypertension today, the morbidity count is 100 (and the prevalence would be 100/5,000).