Mortality definition

Death is a demographic occurrence that is referred to as mortality. The assessment is less complex than, for instance, the investigation of fertility, where the occurrence of birth might occur with a different frequency between women, because death is a biological phenomenon that only happens once to each.

High quality data on fatalities and population are the foundation of any investigation of mortality. Traditionally, routine health information procedures and population surveys have provided these statistics. Simple metrics of mortality include the crude death rate and the specific death rates (age, sex, age-sex, and agesex-cause of death specific). 

Measures of mortality

Crude death rate definition

The crude mortality rate is determined by dividing the total number of reported fatalities in a year by the midyear population for the same year. Per 1,000 people, the rate is stated.

This rate is easy to understand since it indicates the average number of fatalities per 1,000 residents of the town. Furthermore, it is rather simple to calculate as all that is needed is the entire size of the population and the total number of fatalities.

Additionally, it truly is a likelihood rate in the largest context. Since the entire population may be assumed to be vulnerable to the risk of passing away from one condition or another, it offers an assessment of the likelihood that an individual corresponding to the given population will pass away.

It does, nevertheless, have several significant flaws. By using CDR, we disregard the fact that the risk of death varies according to ethnicity, employment, and place of residence, as well as the fact that it is not the same for young and old or for men and women.

Specific Death Rate

According to this, the mid-year population is used as the baseline and deaths owing to particular causes as the fraction to compute the crude mortality rates for various causes of morbidity and mortality. By choosing the numerator and denominator for each sex of the community, the rates might then be tailored to each gender.

The Standard Population

The choice of the standard population is arbitrary in principle. But this population ought to resemble the people whose percentages are being contrasted. It is suitable to compare mortality trends and patterns for India or to measure state-level differences in mortality using the demographic of India as of the most recent census date. It is disingenuous to compare the percentages of two nations using either the demographic breakdown of one nation or the aggregate of the two nations.

different types of mortality rates

The following are two crucial factors:

  • Even if an individual who passed away in the applicable season but before June 30th is not living on that period and is therefore not counted in the mid-year population, their death will be included in the numerator.
  • Think of a person who was born on September 7 and passed away on October 9.

Assume that this guy became x years old on June 30. His age at death will thereafter be x + 1 years since his last birthday. “He will be a part of the age-specific rate at age x last birthday’s denominator, but the age-specific rate at age x + 1 last birthday’s numerator will include his death.”