severities

Severities describe the degree of seriousness or impact attributed to a condition, event, or defect. A severity assessment assigns an ordinal level that helps compare cases, allocate resources, and prioritize actions. Because severity is domain-specific, scales and criteria vary, but most systems share the goal of distinguishing minor from major consequences.

In medicine and public health, severity describes how ill a patient is or how serious a disease or injury will be if not treated. Clinical scoring systems quantify severity to guide triage, prognosis, and treatment. Examples include pain scales from 0 to 10; the Injury Severity Score (ISS); severity scores like APACHE II and SOFA in critical care; and staging systems such as TNM for cancer or Child-Pugh for cirrhosis. These tools balance objectivity with clinical judgment and may be imperfect across populations.

In software engineering and incident management, severity rates the impact of a defect on system function. Common levels include blocking or critical, major, normal, and minor or trivial. Severity drives prioritization for fixes and informs service-level agreements; it may be distinct from priority, which reflects business urgency.

In risk assessment and safety engineering, severity expresses the consequence of a hazard, ranging from negligible to catastrophic. When paired with probability or frequency, it forms a risk assessment and helps structure mitigation strategies and safety controls.

Limitations of severity reflect subjectivity, context dependence, and evolving standards. Clear definitions and consistent application are essential for meaningful comparisons.