A set of diagnostic criteria that must be fulfilled in order to identify a person as a case of a particular disease. Case definition can be based on clinical, laboratory, or combined clinical and laboratory criteria, or a scoring system with points for each criterion that matches the features of the disease. See also case.
a set of criteria used to classify an animal or epidemiological unit as a case
the sum characteristics (such as history, gross and/or laboratory findings) that define a particular disease for the purposes of a disease control program. It is important to note that these do not necessarily have to be the most sensitive or specific tests available as long as they are established to be adequate for a particular program to meet its goals.
The case definition is a standard set of criteria for deciding whether an individual should be classified as having the health condition of interest. [15
A set of standard criteria for deciding whether a person has a particular disease or health-related condition, by specifying clinical criteria and limitations on time, place, and person.
In the example of CFS, a combination of symptoms, signs, and physiologic characteristics that serve to distinguish a case of chronic fatigue syndrome from other disease states.