Calculate the crude death rate (per 100,000) and the cause-specific death rates (per 100,000) for accidents, neoplasms, and viral hepatitis. Repeat these calculations for males and females separately.

Calculating a Rate

It is customary to use rates per 100,000 population for deaths and rates per 1,000

population for live births.

To calculate the rate for deaths from injuries and poisoning for Allen County in 2000, do

the following calculation:

Number of deaths fron injuriespoisoning in 2000/

Estimated 2ounty populaticn in 2000 x 100,000

Or, 100/331 849 X

100000

3013

There may or may not be 100,000 residents in the county under review, but multiplying

the result by 100,000 makes that rate comparable with counties with more than 100,000

or less than 100,000 (such as Bartholomew County).

Make sure you use the same population base when calculating rates for comparison.

For comparing Allen County with Bartholomew County, use the 2000 population

estimates for each population base. Population data can come from the Census Bureau

(www.census.gov) or the Indiana Business Research Center ( www.stats.indiana.edu/ ).

Another example is the number of deaths from communicable diseases is 18 per

100,000. A rate of 18 per 100,000 is not 18 percent, but .018 percent. To make a rate

into a percent, for the example of 18 deaths per 100,000 population, divide by 1,000:

18/ 1,000 x 100000= 1800

Be careful about the decimal point. This formula cannot be used with age-

adjusted rates. Be very clear about the denominator.

characteristics of hydrocarbons