Nonfatalt

Nonfatalt is an adjective describing outcomes that do not result in death. In medical, epidemiological, and safety contexts, the term is used to contrast with fatal or lethal outcomes, and corresponds to the English term non-fatal. It is used in several Scandinavian languages to express the same idea.

Nonfatalt outcomes include injuries, illnesses, or adverse events that do not cause death. These can range from minor injuries to more serious conditions that require medical care or hospitalization but ultimately do not result in mortality. In public health, nonfatalt outcomes are an important part of understanding the burden of injuries and diseases alongside fatal outcomes.

Measurement and data on nonfatalt events are typically drawn from hospital records, emergency department visits, poison control data, and population surveys. In burden-of-disease assessments, nonfatalt consequences are often treated as morbidity, sometimes quantified with metrics such as years lived with disability (YLD) or as components of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) when combined with fatal outcomes.

Limitations and challenges include definitional differences across countries and data sources, variability in what is classified as nonfatalt, and potential underreporting or misclassification of nonfatal events. Data quality can affect comparability over time and between regions, making standardized coding and clear criteria essential for accurate assessment.

See also: fatal, morbidity, burden of disease, ICD codes, public health.