Wisconsin State Health Plan 2010
Tracking Health Conditions

Technical Notes for Mortality Measures

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Age Adjustment:  Age adjustment is the application of age-specific rates in a population of interest to a standardized age distribution. It enhances the comparability of populations by controlling for the effects of their differing age compositions. The age-adjusted rate for a population of interest can be compared to the age-adjusted rate of a different population at the same point in time or the same population at a different point in time. Age-adjusted rates for this site are calculated using the direct method based on the year 2000 U.S. standard population.

Mortality Rate:  The mortality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths per year by the population. It is usually expressed as the number of deaths per 100,000 population. The rate may refer to deaths in a specific group, or to deaths from a specific cause, or to all deaths in the entire population. The rate may be adjusted for the age composition of the group (see "age adjustment," above) or it may be the observed (or "crude") rate. 

Rates by Race and Ethnicity:  The population estimates used as denominators for the mortality rates are based on the bridged race estimates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The estimates have been controlled so they sum to the annual estimates published by the Bureau of Health Information and Policy.

As a result, NCHS and the Census Bureau produced bridged race estimates that allow calculation of rates by race and ethnicity across years. These estimates distribute (or "bridge") the "more than one race" and "some other race" populations into one of four major race groups (American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and White) and two ethnicity groups (Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic/Latino).

NCHS and the Census Bureau have produced this set of bridged race estimates extending back to the 1990 Census, and plan to produce the estimates on an annual basis in the future. This site will be updated each year as these estimates become available.

Underlying Cause of Death:  Most but not all mortality-based measures use underlying cause of death, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the disease or injury that initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury. Under international rules for selecting underlying cause from the reported conditions, every death is attributed to one underlying cause based on information reported on the death certificate.

In addition, Wisconsin death certificates also permit listing any contributing causes of death, defined as conditions that contribute to death but do not result in the underlying cause of death. For selected conditions (diabetes, Alzheimer's, hypertension), mortality data reported in this Web query system include deaths from both the underlying and the contributing cause of death (referred to as all-mention). For example, the number of deaths due to diabetes, based on all-mention causes, includes both deaths with diabetes reported as the underlying cause of death and deaths with diabetes reported as a contributing cause of death.

Causes for deaths that occurred in 1999 and later have been coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Causes for deaths that occurred in 1979-1998 were coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9).

Back to the Mortality Measures Query page

Last Revised: October 24, 2008