Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Abstract

This paper distinguishes between 2 concepts for measuring the incidence of disease: risk and rate. Alternative procedures for estimating these measures from epidemiologic data are reviewed and illustrated. An attempt is made to integrate statistical principles with epidemiologic methods while minimizing the use of higher mathematics. Several theoretical and practical criteria are discussed for choosing the appropriate incidence measure in the planning of a study and for selecting the best method of estimation in the analysis.