{"id":9880,"date":"2020-08-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/?p=9880"},"modified":"2022-05-03T08:09:58","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T08:09:58","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the Difference Between Incident, Incidence, and Instance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This month, I have yet another rousing game of Which word should I choose?<\/em> Today\u2019s potentially confusing words are incident, incidence, and instance. As I\u2019ve gathered examples for this piece, I\u2019ll admit that repeatedly looking at these three words makes my head spin. They\u2019ve all morphed into the same word, and I\u2019m doubting everything I thought I knew. But we can keep them straight, I promise!<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

An incident<\/strong> is an event or occurrence, and it often indicates something negative.<\/p>\n\n\n

He was unconscious for 1 minute immediately following the incident<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

Incidence <\/strong>is something\u2019s rate<\/em> of occurrence.<\/p>\n\n\n

She asked for recommendations to decrease the incidence<\/span> of malignancy at her age<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the top 10 subjects that have a high incidence<\/span> on the pediatric shelf exam<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

An instance <\/strong>is an occurrence that is usually given as an example (For instance<\/em>,…). It can also mean \u201ccase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Her mother reports that the girl had multiple instances<\/span> of intense coughing that lasted several minutes last night<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

Got it? Try some examples and see how you do:<\/p>\n\n\n

Which of the following evidence-based strategies has been shown to reduce the<\/strong> [<\/span>instance<\/span><\/strong>\/<\/span>incident<\/span><\/strong>\/<\/span>incidence<\/span><\/strong>] of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here we\u2019re talking about a rate of occurrence of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia, so <\/span>incidence <\/span><\/strong>is correct.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s forget about the spilling-coffee-on-our-notes<\/strong> [<\/span>incident<\/strong>\/<\/span>instance<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\/<\/span>incidence<\/span><\/strong>] during our AANP exam review session<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This example isn’t referring to a rate of occurrence, so let’s strike “incidence.” Coffee spilling on notes is an unfortunate event or occurrence\u2014<\/span>incident <\/span><\/strong>is correct.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has six to eight<\/strong> [<\/span>incidents<\/strong>\/<\/span>instances<\/span><\/strong><\/span>] of headache per month<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does this one seem a little tricker? Let\u2019s break it down. Is this patient describing six to eight unfortunate occurrences (<\/span>incidents<\/b>) or is he giving examples or stating the number of cases of headache per month (<\/span>instances<\/b>)? He\u2019s mentioning several examples or cases, thus <\/span>instances <\/span><\/strong>is correct.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

If this feels overwhelming or confusing, you\u2019re not alone. I usually have a gut reaction in examples like the ones above. For example, I may know right away that \u201cinstances\u201d is correct, but then I start overanalyzing it and almost convince myself that \u201cincidents\u201d could be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s one last challenge: can you fill in this tongue twister?<\/p>\n\n\n

The<\/strong> [instance<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\/incidence<\/span><\/strong>] of inciting<\/strong> [<\/span>incidents<\/strong>\/<\/span><\/span>incidences<\/span><\/strong>] increased to eight<\/strong> [instances<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\/incidents<\/strong>] per night<\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> incidence<\/span><\/strong> (rate) of inciting <\/span>incidents<\/span><\/strong> (negative events) increased to eight <\/span>instances<\/span><\/strong> (occurrences) per night.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If you have a hard time with these words\u2014or really, any words\u2014don\u2019t fret! Remember: they<\/strong>\u2019re just words<\/strong>, people mix things up all the time<\/strong>, and no one<\/strong>\u2019s perfect<\/strong>. Consider that mantra my gift to you\u2014say it as often as you need to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month, I have yet another rousing game of Which word should I choose? Today\u2019s potentially confusing words are incident, incidence, and instance. As I\u2019ve gathered examples for this piece, I\u2019ll admit that repeatedly looking at these three words makes my head spin. They\u2019ve all morphed into the same word, and I\u2019m doubting everything I read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":11203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1996,1998],"tags":[2735],"coauthors":[3822],"class_list":["post-9880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogtype","category-lauras-lessons","tag-grammar"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's the Difference Between Incident, Incidence, and Instance? - RoshReview.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whats The Difference Between Incident Incidence And Instance Learn in a minute what you should've learned in third grade.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's the Difference Between Incident, Incidence, and Instance?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whats The Difference Between Incident Incidence And Instance Learn in a minute what you should've learned in third grade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RoshReview.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-17T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-03T08:09:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/LaurasLessons_2021_1200x630.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Wilkinson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/LaurasLessons_2021_1012x506.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Wilkinson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-incident-incidence-and-instance\/\",\"name\":\"What's the Difference Between Incident, Incidence, and Instance? 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