Diapositiva 1

They can be separated into two large groups: crude or crude, and specific.

Crude or gross are those that have in the denominator the whole population.
Specific are those that have a specific population in the denominator, for example: those
under 15.

Diapositiva 2
Crude death rate
The numerator includes all deaths recorded during a calendar year in a given area. The
denominator is the total population of that area estimated at 30 June of the same year. As
the denominator is always greater than the numerator, it is necessary to multiply the result
by 1,000, so the crude mortality rate is interpreted as the number of deaths per 1,000
inhabitants that occurred during a year. This rate measures the risk of death of the general
population in a given year.

Mortality rate by cause

It shall include in the numerator all deaths from a given cause during the study period and in
the denominator all the population at the midpoint of the study period. The result should be
multiplied by 100,000. This rate measures the risk that the population has of dying for a
specific cause.

Diapositiva 3
Specific rates of mortality
Mortality rates specific to sex, age and other attributes can be calculated, depending on the
constraint on the denominator. In this way, indicators are obtained that measure the risk of
death that have men, women, children under one year, older adults, etc.

Lethality rate
This rate measures the risk of dying from a certain disease that those who are sick with that
disease have. It is constructed by dividing the number of deaths due to an illness by the
number of patients with that disease. The result is multiplied by 100. The lethality rate is also
considered an indicator of the severity of a disease.

Diapositiva 4
Morbidity rates
In the measurement of morbidity we will be interested in two aspects of the disease under
study: frequency and severity.

We will measure the frequency through prevalence and incidence rates.

Diapositiva 5
Incidence rate
Consider the number of new cases in the period, in the numerator, and the population at the
midpoint, in the denominator. All this multiplied by 100,000.

It measures the risk of contracting the disease during the study period. In this way, it
evaluates the dynamics of the disease.

Prevalence rate
Consider, in the numerator, all cases of the disease present during the period (new + old),
and in the denominator to the population at mid-term. The result is amplified by 100,000.

It measures the risk of being ill in a period, which has the observed population. It is an
indicator of the magnitude of the problem.
Conclusión
The rates are the measures for distribution of frequencies that are most useful in the area of
health, since they essentially measure the risk of an event occurring. This is particularly
relevant if contemporary medicine is considered to be based more on prevention than on
remedying disease. The rates are related between the event and the total population at risk
of such an event at a given time and place. Since the result is fractional and difficult to
interpret, we resort to multiplying it by a constant that allows us to obtain units.