Introduction to the Study of Morbidity

Abstract

Morbidity, in its simplest terms, refers to the level of sickness and disability exhibited by a population. Morbidity has been of interest to human societies throughout history as people have struggled to understand sickness and death. Social commentators have long remarked on the impact of disease on human populations, and the precursors of the modern medical scientists were faced with the responsibility for explaining and managing the sickness characteristic of their respective societies. As morbidity has come to be more reflective of the nature of a society’s health problems than mortality, the interest in the study of morbidity has increased. Chapter 1 defines morbidity and discusses its various dimensions, traces the history of the study of morbidity including developments making the topic more relevant, who studies it and why.