Health Care

Causality

The relating of causes to the effects they produce. Causes are termed necessary when they must always precede an effect and sufficient when they initiate or produce an effect. Any of several factors may be associated with the potential disease causation or outcome, including predisposing factors, enabling factors, precipitating factors, reinforcing factors, and risk factors.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

The relating of causes to the effects they produce. Causes are termed necessary when they must always precede an effect and sufficient when they initiate or produce an effect. Any of several factors may be associated with the potential disease causation or outcome, including predisposing factors, enabling factors, precipitating factors, reinforcing factors, and risk factors.

MeSH Record

Classification

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See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

23 entry terms
  • Causalities
  • Causation
  • Enabling Factors
  • Multifactorial Causality
  • Multiple Causation
  • Predisposing Factors
  • Reinforcing Factors
  • Causalities, Multifactorial
  • Causality, Multifactorial
  • Causation, Multiple
  • Causations
  • Causations, Multiple
  • Enabling Factor
  • Factor, Enabling
  • Factor, Predisposing
  • Factor, Reinforcing
  • Factors, Enabling
  • Factors, Predisposing
  • Factors, Reinforcing
  • Multifactorial Causalities
  • Multiple Causations
  • Predisposing Factor
  • Reinforcing Factor

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

an epidemiological concept: do not confuse with the cause of a disease ( = /etiol); IM general only; coordinate NIM with disease /epidemiol, not /etiol

MeSH Record

History Note

90

MeSH Record

Previous Indexing

  • Risk (1966-1989)
  • specific disease/epidemiology (1966-1989)
  • specific disease/etiology (1966-1989)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Numbers

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Causality. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D015984. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D015984
  2. Causality. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality
  3. Causality. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q179289