Final answer:
The statement is false; incidence rate measures the frequency of new disease cases, while risk refers to the probability of an individual experiencing a health event, and it involves a more complex assessment than a simple projection of incidence rates.
Step-by-step explanation:
Incidence and prevalence are distinct epidemiological measures used to assess disease frequency. Incidence rate is the measure of new cases of a disease within a specified time frame in a given population, and is used to identify possible risk factors and to understand the spread of disease. It is calculated by dividing the number of new cases by the population at risk during the same time period.
Conversely, risk in epidemiology often relates to the likelihood or probability that an individual will develop a disease over a certain period of time, considering various risk factors. This is different from the projection of incidence rates. Risk assessments can use incidence rates as part of the calculation, but they are more complex and include other variables such as the exposed and unexposed groups and the number of events that occurred in these groups. Therefore, while incidence rates can indeed inform predictions about future disease patterns, they are not synonymous with risk.