The use of epidemiological tools in conflict-affected populations: open-access educational resources for policy-makers

Table of Contents

1. Welcome
2. Introduction: Epidemiology in crises
3. Ethical issues in data collection
4. Need for epidemiologic competence
5. Surveys - Introduction
6. Surveys - Description of sampling methods
7. Surveys - Sampling error, bias, accuracy, precision, & sample size
8. Surveys - Resources required for surveys
9. Surveys - Critiquing survey reports
10. Surveillance - When to do surveillance
11. Surveillance - Methods
12. Surveillance - Common problems
13. Programme data
14. Rapid assessment
15. Mortality - Indicators and their measurement
    1. Why measure mortality
    2. Parts of mortality rate
    3. Formats for mortality rate
    4. Types of mortality rates
    5. Mortality rates for children
    6. Number of excess deaths
    7. Measurement of causes of death in surveys
16. Mortality - Data sources
17. Mortality - Interpretation and action
18. Nutrition - Introduction and background
19. Nutrition - Indicators and their measurement
20. Nutrition - Data sources
21. Nutrition - Interpretation and action
22. Health services
23. Vaccination programmes
24. Water supply, sanitation, and shelter
25. Violence
26. Presentation of results
27. Formulating conclusions and recommendations
28. Dissemination and action

Types of mortality rates

(go to Outline)

There are several different mortality rates used to monitor the level of mortality in populations. In humanitarian emergencies, the following are most commonly used:

Crude mortality rate

• Counts all deaths
  • All causes
  • All ages and both sexes
• Denominator includes entire population
  • All ages and both sexes

Age-specific mortality rate

• Counts only deaths in specific age group
  • Usually calculated for children less than 5 years of age
• Denominator includes only persons in that age group

There are also mortality rates which are not really rates. They use live births as the denominator instead of the actual group in which deaths are counted:

Infant mortality rate

Counts deaths in children less than 12 months of age, divides by number of live births in same time period

Maternal mortality rate

Counts deaths in women due to pregnancy or child birth, divides by number of live births in same time period

Under-5 mortality rate

Counts deaths in the first 5 years of life, divides by number of live births in the hypothetical cohort of newborns.

Click here for a summary table of different death rates