LIFE EXPECTANCY AND MORTALITY
This post will provide basic Information on life expectancy and mortality
(death)and how to account for different age structures of different populations. LIFE EXPECTANCY
Life
expectancy at birth is defined as the number of years a person living in an
area could be expected to survive if they were to experience that area’s
mortality rates (for all people) for the rest of their life. Life expectancy is
often calculated using three or five year rolling averages to eliminate any
effects of unusually large or small numbers of deaths in any one year.
MORTALITY
A mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a population, scaled to the size of the population. Comparison of mortality rates between areas with different age structures can be inappropriate, Different age structure affects the number of deaths and thereby the death rate. To overcome this a common approach is to adjust, or standardise, mortality rates to take account of differences between the age structures of the populations. One method is DSR.
Directly standardised rates (DSR) of mortality are used to compare the number of deaths between areas with different age structures and population sizes. A low DSR is a mark of positive performance, as this represents fewer deaths in the given population. Additional information and samples will be provided in upcoming posts.
The DSR usually expressed in per 100,000 indicates the death that would occur in that area if it had the same age structure as the standard population. (500 per 100,000) (200 per 100,000) (300 per 100,000)
