Prevalence of Risk Factor
Lead Author(s): Jeff Martin, MD
Definition of Prevalence of Risk Factor
The prevalence of a risk factor is also important from a public health perspective.
- For example, a risk factor (exposure or predictor variable) may have a modest association with a disease outcome (say, a relative risk less than 2), but be a very common exposure.
- In that instance even a small relative risk may have great public health importance if a large proportion of the population is exposed.
Example of Small Relative Risk - Public Health Concern
A good example of a small relative risk that has great public health importance because a large proportion of the population is exposed is the risk associated with second hand smoking.