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Severity refers to the intensity with which the health problem is experienced. It has to do with “how badly,” serious and/or distressing the problem is. The level of severity can be objectively assessed (e.g. level of dependence in performance of activities of daily living, or number of cigarettes smoked) or subjectively rated for its distress or burden by clients, using relevant measures and rating scales. For example, the Insomnia Severity Index assesses clients' perception of how distressing their sleep problem is, and how much it interferes with daytime functioning; the total score quantifies the level of insomnia severity (Morin et al., 2011).

Duration refers to the time period over which the health problem is experienced. It determines the acuity or chronicity of the problem, which may be associated with different sets of contributing factors. For example, the experience of the sleep difficulties as described previously, over at least three months, indicates the presence of chronic insomnia, which is primarily associated with sleep‐related behaviors; acute insomnia is experienced as a result of life events.

Generating a list of indicators, describing each indicator accurately, and specifying the severity and duration of the health problem's experience are important. A critical analysis of the indicators points to those that are amenable to change and for which interventions or components of an intervention can be designed to directly address them and, hence, contribute to the management or resolution of the problem. For example, dyspnea is manifested by rapid short breathing, suggesting that clients can be instructed to perform deep breathing exercises to control this specific indicator of dyspnea. The severity and duration of the health problem's experience inform the identification of factors that contribute to the problem.