Synonyms
Determinant of disease
Definition
A risk factor is an aspect of behavior or life-style , such as an habitual pattern of diet, exercise, cigarette and alcohol use, etc., or a biological characteristic, an inborn or inherited characteristic, or a health-related condition or environmental exposure with predictable effects on the risk of disease due to a specific cause, including in particular an increased likelihood of an unfavorable outcome. Another meaning of this term is that a risk factor is a determinant of disease that can be modified by specific actions, behaviors, or treatment regiments. Risk factors can be categorized as genetic, physiological, behavioral and socioeconomic characteristics of individuals that place them in a cohort of the population that is more likely to develop a particular health problem or disease than the rest of the population. Usually applied to multifactorial diseases for which there is no single precise cause, they have been particularly useful in identifying candidates for primary preventive measures and in assessing the effectiveness of the prevention program in controlling the risk factors being targeted. A risk factor may be directly related to disease outcomes (proximal risk factor) or may have indirect effect on outcomes (distal risk factor).
Risk factor is clearly defined occurrence or characteristic that has been associated with the increased rate of a subsequently occurring disease. Risk factors are defined as factors influencing health in a way that causes health impairment . Risk factors may be genetic (e. g. inherited susceptibility to certain ailments) (disease, ailment), psychologic (e. g. psychosomatic illness), behavioral (e. g. smoking, etc.), socioeconomic status (e. g. hygiene, proper nutrition, clothing, availability and accessibility of health care), environmental (e. g. different types of pollution), etc.
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag
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(2008). Risk Factor . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_3038
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_3038
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5613-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5614-7
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