Therapeutic or Preventive Procedure
primary prevention
pri·ma·ry pre·ven·tion [ prahy-mer-ee, -muh-ree pri-ven-shuhn ]
Subclass of:
Preventive Health Services; Public Health Practice
Definitions related to primary prevention:
  • A procedure performed to avoid the first occurrence of a disease condition.
    CDISC Terminology
    Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC), 2021
  • Prevention of disease or mental disorders in susceptible individuals or populations through promotion of health, including mental health, and specific protection, as in immunization, as distinguished from the prevention of complications or after-effects of existing disease.
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Specific practices for the prevention of disease or mental disorders in susceptible individuals or populations. These include HEALTH PROMOTION, including mental health; protective procedures, such as COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL; and monitoring and regulation of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS. Primary prevention is to be distinguished from SECONDARY PREVENTION and TERTIARY PREVENTION.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.