Psychiatric Epidemiology Glossary
100 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026
prodrome
Early signs and symptoms that precede the full manifestation of a psychiatric disorder.
administrative prevalence
Disease prevalence estimated from healthcare records and administrative databases rather than direct assessment.
age of onset
The age at which an individual first experiences symptoms or meets diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric disorder.
attributable fraction
Proportion of psychiatric disorder cases in exposed individuals that can be attributed to a specific risk factor.
AUDIT-C
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption, a brief screening tool for hazardous drinking.
BRFSS
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based telephone survey that collects data on health behaviors and me...
case definition
Standardized criteria used to determine whether an individual qualifies as a case in an epidemiological study.
case prevalence
The proportion of identified cases within a defined population at a specific point in time or period.
case prevalence study
Epidemiological study design that examines the proportion of a population affected by a psychiatric disorder at a specif...
case-control study
A retrospective study design comparing individuals with a psychiatric disorder (cases) to those without (controls) to id...
CATIE study
Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness, a landmark pragmatic trial comparing antipsychotic medicati...
CIDI
Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a standardized instrument for assessing mental disorders according to ICD...
clinical high-risk state
Syndrome characterized by subclinical psychotic symptoms that may precede the onset of full psychotic disorder.
cohort effect
Systematic differences in psychiatric disorder rates between groups born in different time periods, reflecting historica...
comorbidity
The co-occurrence of two or more psychiatric disorders in the same individual, either simultaneously or sequentially.
cross-sectional study
A study design that examines the relationship between variables at a single point in time.
DALY
Disability-adjusted life year; a metric combining years lost to premature death and years lived with psychiatric disabil...
DAWN
Drug Abuse Warning Network, a surveillance system that monitors drug-related emergency department visits and deaths.
diagnostic clustering
Statistical approaches used to identify patterns of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms or disorders within populations.
diagnostic concordance
The degree of agreement between different diagnostic assessments or between diagnoses made at different time points.
diagnostic crossover
Change in psychiatric diagnosis over time, reflecting either diagnostic instability or natural evolution of psychiatric...
diagnostic interview schedule
Structured clinical interview tool designed for systematic psychiatric assessment in epidemiological research.
diagnostic migration
The phenomenon where patients receive different psychiatric diagnoses over time, reflecting changes in clinical presenta...
diagnostic stability
The consistency of psychiatric diagnoses over time, indicating the reliability and validity of diagnostic classification...
diagnostic threshold
The minimum criteria or cutoff point required to meet diagnostic classification for a psychiatric disorder.