Measures of mortality provide important information for epidemiological studies. They include crude death rate, specific death rates, case fatality rate, proportional mortality rate, and survival rate. Standardized rates allow for comparisons between populations with different age compositions. Some challenges include incomplete reporting, inaccurate information, and non-uniformity across locations. However, mortality measures are useful for explaining trends, prioritizing health issues, designing interventions, and assessing public health programs.

1. MEASUREMENT
S OF
MORTALITY

2.  Easy to obtain.
 Obtained information is accurate
 Provides
starting point for many
epidemiological studies-major resource for
epidemiologist.

3. 2 parts
 Part
1-immediate cause, underlying
cause which started the whole trend of
events leading to death.
 Part2-any significant associated
disease that contributed to the death
but did not directly lead to it.

4. Defined as
 Disease or injury that initiated the train of
morbid events leading directly to death.
 Circumstancesof the accident or violence
which produced the fatal injury.

5. CAUSE OF DEATH Approximate
interval
between
onset &
death
1.Immediate A
cause
Underlying B
cause C
2.Comorbid
conditions

6.  Setof questions are added to the basic
structure
 In
order to improve the quality of maternal
mortality and infant mortality data.
 To
provide method of collecting data on
deaths during pregnancy and infancy.

7.  Incomplete reporting of deaths
 Lack of accuracy-age , cause of death-lack
of diagnostic evidence , inexperience of
the certifying doctor , absence of
postmortem.
 Lack of uniformity-hampers national and
international comparability

8.  Choosing a single cause of death-only
underlying cause of death is recorded in
some countries. Certain risk factors and
diseases that contribute to death are not
recorded.
 Changing coding systems and diagnostic
methods affect the validity.
 Diseases with low fatality

9.  Explaining trends in overall mortality.
 Indicating priorities for health action and
resource allocation.
 Designing intervention programs.
 Assessment of public health problems and
programs.
 Give important clues for epidemiological
research.

10. MEASURES OF
MORTALITY
Crude death rate
Specific death rate
Case fatality rate
Proportional mortality rate
Survival rate
Adjusted or standardised rate

11. The no. of deaths (from all causes) per
1000 estimated mid-year population ,in
a given place.
No. of deaths during the year
*1000
Mid year population

12. Summarises population composition &
are specific death rates
Lack comparabilty if populations differ in
age composition

13. pop CDR ASDR per 1000 population
ulat 0-1 1-4 5-7 8-44 45- 65+
ion 64
A 15.2 13.5 0.6 0.4 1.5 10.7 59.7
B 9.9 22.6 1 0.5 3.6 18.8 61.1

14. Permits comparison between 2 groups
in the population
No. of deaths in group the
during the year
*1000
Mid year population

15. •Age specific death rate
•Disease specific death rate

16. Specific death rate in age group 15-20yrs =
No. of deaths in age group 15-
20yrs the during the year
*1000
Mid year population

17. Specific death rate due to tuberculosis =
No. of deaths due to tuberculosis
the during the year
*1000
Mid year population

18. Indicate killing power if a disease
Eg:-a/c infection like cholera
Variable with diff epidemics of same
disease-related to virulence
No. of deaths due to the
particular disease
*100
Total no. of cases of the
same disease

19. Number of deaths due to a particular
cause or in a specific age group per
100(or1000) deaths...
Used for broad d/s groups or major
public health problems
Does not indicate risk of dying from
the disease

20. Proportional mortality rate due to TB =
No. of deaths due to tuberculosis
the during the year
*100
Total no. of deaths
during the year

21. Proportion of survivers in a group
studied and followed over a period of
time
Usually 5year survival taken
Prognosis of disease indicated eg:-
cancer
Efficiency of treatment modality

22. Total no. of patients alive after 5
years
*100
Total no. of patients diagnosed
or treated

23. •Direct standardisation
•Indirect standardisation
SMR
OTHERS

24. Standard population-no in each age &
sex known
Find ASDR of the population to be
evaluated
Apply to standard population
Calculate total expected deaths
Divide with the total of standard
population

25. STANDARDIZED MORTALITY RATIO
•Simple & more useful
•Risk of mortality in occupation
Observed deaths
*100
Expected deaths