Mortality rate

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Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population. It is distinct from morbidity rate, which refers to the number of individuals in poor health during a given time period (the prevalence rate) or the number who currently have that disease (the incidence rate), scaled to the size of the population.

One distinguishes:

In regard to the success or failure of medical treatment or procedures, one would also distinguish:

Note that the crude death rate as defined above and applied to a whole population can give a misleading impression. The crude death rate depends on the age (and gender) specific mortality rates and the age (and gender) distribution of the population. The number of deaths per 1000 people can be higher for developed nations than in less-developed countries, despite life expectancy being higher in developed countries due to standards of health being better. This happens because developed countries typically have a completely different population age distribution, with a much higher proportion of older people, due to both lower recent birth rates and lower mortality rates. A more complete picture of mortality is given by a life table which shows the mortality rate separately for each age. A life table is necessary to give a good estimate of life expectancy.

For more information about Mortality rate, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with mortality


Tarantula venom-based MD therapy to be advanced by UB scientists' biotech company

Biology / Biotechnology

created 20 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

University at Buffalo biophysicists have found a protein in tarantula venom that shows promise as a potential therapy for muscular dystrophy (MD). They have formed a start-up biotech company in Buffalo -- Rose Pharmaceuticals ...





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Use of telemedicine for ICU patients not linked with improvement in survival

Medicine & Health / Other

created 16 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Remote monitoring of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) was not associated with an overall improvement in the risk of death or length of stay in the ICU or hospital, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of ...


US Senate votes on landmark health bill

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 24, 2009 | popularity 2.6 / 5 (5) | comments 5

Senators gave Barack Obama a huge political boost on Thursday by passing a sweeping remake of the US health care system that aims to extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans.


Study: Swine flu poses a threat to new moms

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Swine flu is not only dangerous to pregnant women, but it's a threat to new mothers too, the first study to document this risk shows. An analysis of pregnant women and new mothers who were hospitalized with swine ...


High-blood-pressure treatment for the over-80s too aggressive, warns expert

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 1

People over 80 years are being treated too aggressively for high blood pressure, warns an expert in an editorial in BMJ Clinical Evidence this week.


The number of 85-year-olds will increase by a third by 2020

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Health and social care provision needs to be put in place for a large increase (33%) in the 85 year old population in the UK by 2020, according to a study published today in the British Medical Journal.


Adverse consequences of obesity may be greater than previously thought

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 1

The link between obesity and cardiovascular mortality may be substantially underestimated, while some of the adverse consequences of being underweight may be overstated, concludes a study published in the British Medical ...



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