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Health Statistics Online

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Important Definitions

Statistics – the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities

Data – raw numbers collected together for reference or analysis

Vital Statistics – Statistics concerning the important events in human life, i.e. birth, death, marriage, etc. 

Correlation – mutual relationship or connection between two or more things

Rate – expresses the frequency  with which an event occurs in a defined population in a specified period of time

Incidence  the proportion of new cases of the target disorder in the population at risk during a specified time interval

Prevalence – the proportion of the total population who have a particular health-related condition. 

 

 

Sources: 

1. Strauss SE, Richardson WS, Glasziou P, Haynes RB, eds. Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM. 3rd Ed. ed. Edinburgh: Elsevier; 2004.

2. Kielhofner G. Descriptive quantitative design. In: Kielhofner G, ed. Research in Occupational Therapy. 1st ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company; 2006:58.