Difference Between Morbidity and Mortality

Morbidity vs Mortality

Morbidity and mortality are two words that connote negative incidents for a person. One concerns sickness while the other concerns death, two instances that most if not all people are anxious about. However, they are facts that need to be faced by every mortal being.

To understand them further, they need to be discussed in order for people to know their similarities and differences. While both are used to determine the number of people who are afflicted with an ailment and those who eventually die, they differ in how they are measured and how they can affect the population.

“Morbidity” is defined as the quality of being unhealthy or of being sick. It is a condition that is near death because of an affliction or poor health which disables a person from functioning normally. It also refers to the degree that the condition affects the health of the patient.

It is measured by ICU scoring systems such as APACHE II, SAPS II, and SOFA, just to name a few. It refers to the incidence or morbidity rate of a medical condition which is the contrast between those who are dying and those who are sick. It refers to a medical condition and the state of being stricken by a disease. Morbidity rate is taken according to the type of disease, age, gender, and area.

“Mortality,” on the other hand, is defined as the condition of being mortal, of existing only for a certain period of time. It indicates the fact that everyone is able to die or will eventually die. It hints at the humanity of every person and his transient existence on Earth and on the fact that every living being is susceptible to die. It is the opposite of immortality or an endless or eternal life. It also refers to the ratio of deaths in a population and measures instances of death. It is used in association with a calamity or outbreak of a disease or epidemic in a certain population. It is expressed in terms of number of deaths per thousand people.

There are several types of mortality rates, and they are: crude death rates, maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, perinatal mortality rate, standardized mortality rate, child mortality rate, and age-specific mortality rate which are used to measure the intensity or seriousness of an epidemic.

The morbidity and mortality rates of every country vary, and there are some wherein it is hard to determine because of a lack of data.

Summary:

1.Morbidity is the quality of being sick or unhealthy while mortality is the condition of being mortal and of dying.
2.Morbidity is a cause of mortality in a population although not all people who get sick die.
3.Morbidity is measured by ICU scoring systems while mortality is measured by the number of deaths per thousand people.
4.The morbidity rate is taken according to age, gender, area, and type of disease while there are several types of mortality rates; infant, perinatal, child, maternal, crude, standardized, and age-specific.

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