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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 U.S. Rates for each of these indicators are reported by crude rates and/or age-adjusted rates. Crude rates offer rough measures of health but are not recommended when comparing two different populations. They have broad availability and are frequently cited in news media. 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 crude 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 them to the standard population for the same age distribution, typically the 1970 U.S. population. The total number of deaths in Utah 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 policy-makers. 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. Sources for this section can be found on pp. 84-87 of the Review. 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 one year. Incidence rates are used to sssess 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, 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 preschool 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 Risk Factor section of the Review). Prevalence rates measure the total number of existing cases at a given point in time or over a specified period. Thus, they are helpful in measuring the overall health of a population at a point in time, while incidence rates are helpful in measuring changes and in assessing the control of communicable diseases. Sources for this section are found on pp. 88-89 of the Review. OTHER INDICATORS OF HEALTH STATUS Other indicators of health status 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. Sources for this section are found on pp. 88-89 of the Review. 18 HEALTH STATUS |