1. A method for assessing disease status comprising: obtaining data on a plurality of disease prediction factors for a person; selecting a multivariate disease prediction equation for assessing disease status for a specified disease; and applying said multivariate disease prediction equation to said data to determine the disease status of said person; said multivariate disease prediction equation including a term for quantifying the contribution to a specified disease status for each disease prediction factor in a comprehensive set of disease prediction factors; each of said plurality of disease prediction factors for said person being included in said comprehensive set; and said multivariate disease prediction equation being obtained by: (a) obtaining disease association data for each disease prediction factor in a first subset of said comprehensive set of disease prediction factors; (b) obtaining additional disease association data for each disease prediction factor in at least one additional subset of said comprehensive set of disease prediction factors; the total number of disease prediction factors in each subset being less than the total number of disease prediction factors in said comprehensive set and each of said disease prediction factors in said comprehensive set being included in at least one subset; (c) obtaining cross-correlation data between each of said disease prediction factors in said comprehensive set, said cross-correlation data being obtained from a database in which all of said disease prediction factors in said comprehensive set are included; and (d) using the disease association data together with the cross-correlation data to develop said multivariate disease prediction equation.