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Show HEALTH STATUS Mortality Indicators Several mortality (death) indicators were chosen to compare Utah's health with that of the nation. These indicators measure death rates for certain health conditions that are thought to be influenced by health care, environmental factors, and lifestyle choices. The mortality indicators use the International Classification of Disease (ICD-9) codes to facilitate comparisons with other states and the US. Both crude rates and age-adjusted rates are available for each of these indicators. Crude rates have broad availability and are frequently cited in news media. Crude rates may offer rough measures of health but are not recommended when comparing two different populations. Age-adjusted rates provide more accurate comparisons because they adjust for differences in death patterns due to differences in age distribution. Utah has a younger population than the nation and hence should have lower mortality rates for those diseases common in older persons. Age-adjusted rates are calculated by the "direct method," which takes age-specific death rates of a given population and compares those to the standard population for the same age distribution. The total number of Utah deaths for 1990 has been included for each indicator, to give the reader a sense of the relative importance of each cause of death. Some indicators include age-adjusted mortality rates by sex for Utah. Sex differences in mortality rates are considered important by both researchers and policymakers. However, national sex differences have not been included here because of space considerations and because they generally follow the same male/female patterns as in Utah. Morbidity Indicators Several of the consensus indicators report incidence rates of morbidity as opposed to death rates. "Incidence rates" are defined as the number of new cases within a specified period of time, usually on a yearly basis. Incidence rates are used to assess how well community services and preventive measures limit the spread of communicable diseases. The primary methods used to control these communicable diseases include screening programs, immunizations, health education, and control of water and air pollution and other protections of environmental quality. Several of the morbidity indicators include incidence charts for specific age groups for a ten-year period. These illustrate the importance of targeting specific age groups particularly at risk, such as pre-school and school age children, and the elderly. "Prevalence rates" also are frequently used to measure disease conditions in a population, but have not been reported in this section (prevalence of risk factors are included in the Lifestyle section of this Review). Prevalence rates measure the total number of existing cases at a given point in time or over a specified period. Other Indicators Other indicators included in this section show how frequently the population utilizes its health care resources. These indicators include survey information on how people perceive their health status, source of primary care, and frequency of hospital admittance. Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1993 15 |
