Term: Crude Rate

Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2009-10-19

Definition:

The number of events or people with a given condition or procedure, divided by the number of people living in an area/region; often expressed as a rate per 1,000 residents (for less frequent events). Crude rates are helpful in figuring out the burden of disease, and/or number of residents with that condition or procedure. This is in contrast to adjusted rates, which statistically adjust the crude rates, to arrive at an estimate of what an area's rate might have been if the local population's age and sex distribution was the same as that for the entire province. The crude rate could potentially be affected by the age and sex distribution of an area; hence most rates are adjusted to allow for fair comparisons between areas.

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