Which term describes the cause or contributing factors of a disease?

Which term describes the cause or contributing factors of a disease?

• A. The study of the cause of a disease.
• B. Etiology.
• C. Syndrome.
• D. Pathophysiology.

Answer: (B)

Etiology refers to the cause or contributing factors of a disease—the origin that explains why it occurs in a person or population. It includes genetic predispositions, infections, environmental exposures, and lifestyle factors that initiate or influence disease development. This differs from pathophysiology, which explains the functional changes and mechanisms of disease progression, and from a syndrome, which is a pattern of signs and symptoms that can arise from multiple causes. While one might talk about studying causes, the term that best denotes the cause itself is etiology.

Etiology refers to the cause or contributing factors of a disease—the origin that explains why it occurs in a person or population. It includes genetic predispositions, infections, environmental exposures, and lifestyle factors that initiate or influence disease development. This differs from pathophysiology, which explains the functional changes and mechanisms of disease progression, and from a syndrome, which is a pattern of signs and symptoms that can arise from multiple causes. While one might talk about studying causes, the term that best denotes the cause itself is etiology.