prevalence
pre vuh luhns
- n the quality of prevailing generally; being widespread
he was surprised by the prevalence of optimism about the future - n (epidemiology) the ratio (for a given time period) of the number of occurrences of a disease or event to the number of units at risk in the population
- n a superiority in numbers or amount
- As an editorial accompanying the JAMA paper concludes: "without substantial declines in prevalence, the public health toll of childhood obesity will continue to mount.
- Because of its high-altitude exposure to the sun, Tibet has unusually high rates of eye disease, and because of the prevalence of Buddhist beliefs, blindness is often regarded as .
- Parents and school officials discussed the prevalence of violent music and video games; a similar concern arose over school sociology -- bullies, outsiders and teen goth culture.