Risk factors for ill health: How do we specify what is ‘modifiable’?

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002887
• Publication Date: 2024-03-04T18:20:55Z
• Authors: Nisreen A. Alwan; Seb Stannard; Ann Berrington; Shantini Paranjothy; Rebecca B. Hoyle; Rhiannon K. Owen; Simon D. S. Fraser
• Keywords: Opinion; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270

If you work in public health or epidemiology, will be familiar with the term 'modifiable risk factors'.Searching PubMed December 2023 for titles that included risk' returned 1222 results.Expanding this search to include both and abstracts 13,958 results.The often refers behaviours such as smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, diet.However, there does not seem a specific definition of what is classed 'modifiable' context ill health.Although also used refer factors indirectly affecting health, education housing, current use tends focus on individual behaviours, largely neglecting role systemic structural determinants disease inequities.