Primary and Secondary Prevention

These terms are thrown around in medical publications without everyone being aware of what they signify. Primary prevention is the activity undertaken to prevent the first occurrence of a condition. In the medical field, a good example would be undertaking a regular exercise program in midlife to prevent having a first heart attack at 60.

Secondary prevention refers to actions taken to prevent recurrence of a previous condition, or worsening of a current condition. For instance, taking part in a cardiac rehabilitation program is secondary prevention, to stop one having another heart attack. Or, someone with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) taking antioxidant supplements to slow deterioration of vision is an example of secondary prevention. (Just to complicate matters, some people would call this latter example a case of ‘tertiary prevention’.)

In developing new medical approaches to disease prevention it’s common for secondary prevention studies to be done first, followed by primary prevention studies if secondary prevention works.  This is seen with the use of statin drugs for heart disease, or antioxidants for AMD.

Of course, the terms primary and secondary prevention can be used outside the health field, for example in dealing with problems in schools.