What amount of the risk of developing a disease is attributable to a particular exposure?

Epidemiologic research not only focuses on the identification and assessment of risk factors but also the planning and evaluating of public health interventions or control measures to reduce the incidence of disease in the population. Being able to predict the impact of removing a particular exposure on the risk of developing a disease is an important public health consideration because it allows public health planners to make decisions about allocating scarce resources for the greatest impact.
Measures of Attributable Risk answer the following questions:
1. What amount of the risk of developing a disease is attributable to a particular exposure?
2. By what percent would the risk of developing disease be reduced if the exposure
were eliminated?