Prevalence is the number of new and old/existing cases in a specific population within a certain time period. Which term fits this description?

• A. Prevalence
• B. Incidence
• C. Hyperplasia
• D. Atrophy

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is how we measure how widespread a condition is in a population at a given time. The description describes counting all people who have the condition in the population during a specific period, including those who already had it and those who developed it during that period. That total reflects the burden of disease at that time, which is prevalence. Incidence, on the other hand, is about new cases that arise during a defined time frame, not the total number of existing cases. Hyperplasia and atrophy refer to tissue changes, not how many people have a condition, so they don’t fit.