case-fatality proportion

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Word: Case-Fatality Proportion

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: The case-fatality proportion (often abbreviated as CFP) is a way to measure how deadly a disease is. It is calculated by taking the number of people who died from a specific disease and dividing it by the total number of people who had that disease. This result is usually shown as a percentage or as the number of deaths per 1,000 cases. For example, if 10 people died from a disease and 100 people had the disease, the case-fatality proportion would be 10% (10 deaths out of 100 cases).

Usage Instructions:

• When to Use: You can use this term when discussing public health, epidemiology, or any situation where you want to talk about the severity of a disease.
• How to Use: You can say, "The case-fatality proportion of the flu is lower than that of COVID-19," to compare how deadly different diseases are.

Example:

• "The case-fatality proportion of the disease was reported to be 5%, indicating that 5 out of every 100 diagnosed cases resulted in death."

Advanced Usage:

In more advanced discussions, you might encounter phrases like "adjusted case-fatality proportion," which accounts for factors such as age or underlying health conditions when calculating the proportion.

Word Variants:

• Case Fatality Rate (CFR): This is often used interchangeably with case-fatality proportion. Both terms describe the same concept.
• Mortality Rate: A broader term that refers to the number of deaths in a population, not just those from a specific disease.

Different Meaning:

• The term "case" in another context could refer to a situation or instance of something, such as "in this case, we need to consider the evidence."
• "Fatality" can also refer to a death resulting from an accident or disaster.

Synonyms:

• Mortality rate (in some contexts)
• Death rate (though this has a broader meaning)

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

While "case-fatality proportion" does not have specific idioms or phrasal verbs associated with it, related phrases might include: - "At death's door" (meaning very close to dying, but not directly related to the term). - "To kick the bucket" (a colloquial way of saying someone has died).

Summary:

The case-fatality proportion is an important measurement in public health that helps determine how deadly a disease is by comparing deaths to total cases.

Academic

Noun

1. the number of cases of a disease ending in death divided by the number of cases of the disease; usually expressed as a percentage or as the number of deaths per 1000 cases