One implying the probability of an adverse outcome. In developmental research, typically one risk factor (e.g., very preterm birth) is used to predict other risk factors (e.g., cerebral palsy). The term ‘at-risk’ as a medical concept originated in epidemiology, which in turn adopted it from the insurance industry that used it in relation to mathematical determinations of liabilities and insurance premium costs. In both epidemiology and the insurance industry, risk is identified by defining and measuring probabilistic outcomes, and relative to a specific event (e.g., at risk of contracting a specific disease). Medical use of the term implies that treatment or prevention of some kind is required.
See Attributable fraction, Biological risk factor, Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale (CAMPIS-SF), Coping, Epidemiology, Risk factors, Risk mechanisms, Social risk factor, Vulnerability