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Medicine vocabulary · Diseases by System

Risk factor

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈrɪsk ˌfæktər/nounCore term

In medicine, risk factor means: Anything that makes a person more likely to develop a disease, such as smoking, high blood pressure, age or family history.

In Turkish: risk faktörü

How it is used

Doctors list risk factors in the history and in case presentations: 'cardiovascular risk factors include...'. Some can be changed (modifiable: smoking, weight) and some cannot (non-modifiable: age, sex, genes).

Example sentences

  1. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer.

  2. Does he have any risk factors for a blood clot, like recent surgery or a long flight?

Common collocations

  • major risk factor
  • modifiable risk factor
  • cardiovascular risk factors
  • reduce risk factors
  • hypertensionBlood pressure that stays higher than normal over time, which increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney disease.
  • obesityA condition in which a person has so much body fat that it may harm their health; in adults it is usually defined as a BMI of 30 or more.
  • family historyInformation about illnesses in a patient's close relatives, such as parents, brothers and sisters, which may increase the patient's own risk.
  • screeningTesting people who have no symptoms in order to find a disease or risk early, when treatment is more likely to help.
  • social historyThe part of the history about the patient's life outside illness: home, work, smoking, alcohol, drug use, daily activities and support.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Diseases by System

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.