[On the concept of multifactorial genesis (author's transl)].

The terms "multiconditional genesis" and "multifactorial genesis" have been frequently used in medical literature in recent decades. They are, however, only vague words because they have not been defined. In the present paper an explication leading to such definition is undertaken. The explication is based on the concept of statistical relevance. First the concepts of causal relevance, causal pseudorelevance and causal irrelevance are introduced. Positive causal relevance and negative causal relevance are distinguished. Multifactorial genesis is then defined as the generation of an event Z by n greater than 1 events X, Y1, ..., Yn, where (1) the complex event Y1& .. & Yn is positively causally relevant for Z with respect to X, and (2) each Yi is positively causally relevant in Z with respect to X & Y1 &..& Yi. Finally a quantitative concept of causality is outlined.