Mortality Characteristics
To view detailed information on mortality statistics in your community, start by selecting any of the tables to the left. The community-level tables provide mortality data by Michigan's local health departments, counties and major cities; links to the community-level tables appear above.
After selecting your community, scroll down through the list that appears and click on the desired choice. Alternately, instead of scrolling an entire list, you may type the first letter of the community in order to move closer to it in the list. For example, to select Tuscola County, press the down arrow in the County list and press "T".
To view city mortality statistics for a specific county, select your county from the county drop down box (if you don't see the list box, select the county link above) and then press the "Local Cities & Townships" arrow next to it.
Definitions, Rates and Ratios
DEFINITIONS
BIRTHWEIGHT – Weight of fetus or infant at time of delivery.
INFANT DEATH – Deaths occurring to individuals less than 1 year of age.
LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH – Deaths are grouped into 72 categories dependent upon the underlying cause of death. Ranks are assigned by organizing these categories according to the number of deaths in each category from most frequent to least.
LIVE BIRTH – A live birth is the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. Effective on November 9, 1981, the definition of a live birth is established in administrative rule number 325.3201 as follows:
"Live birth" means the complete expulsion or extraction from a pregnant woman of a product of human conception which, after such expulsion or extraction, shows any evidence of life, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.
LOW BIRTHWEIGHT – Births in 1984 or later wherein the birthweight is less than 2,500 grams (approximately 5 lbs., 8 oz.) or births before 1984 wherein the birthweight is 2,500 grams or less.
RACE – Race for mother, father, or decedent is as stated on certificate. Race of child is determined from the race of the parents.
RESIDENCE – Usual place of residence for the person to whom the event occurred. For births and fetal deaths, residence is defined as the mother's usual place of residence.
REMAINING YEARS OF LIFE – A hypothetical calculation of the average number of years a cohort of persons will live given that they have reached a specific age and assuming they have reached a specific age and assuming they are subject to the age-specific mortality rates observed over a given time period.
UNDERLYING CAUSE OF DEATH – That condition giving rise to the chain of events leading to death.
RATES AND RATIOS
AGE–ADJUSTED DEATH RATE – A summary rate of death that is developed using a standard population distribution to improve the comparability of rates for areas or population subgroups with differing age distributions. When calculated by the direct method, as in this report, age–specific death rates for a geographic area or population subgroup are multiplied by the standard population per specific age and the products summed and divided by the total standard population. Age–adjusted death rates represent the mortality experience that would have occurred in a standard population had the age–specific rates of the area or population subgroup been experienced by the standard population. These rates are presented as per 100,000 population.
AGE–SPECIFIC DEATH RATE – Number of resident deaths in specific age group divided by total resident population in specific age group x 100,000.
AGE–SPECIFIC DEATH RATE BY CAUSE OF DEATH – Number of resident deaths in specific age group and from a specific cause divided by total resident population in specific age group x 100,000.
CAUSE–SPECIFIC RATE – Number of resident deaths due to a specific cause divided by total resident population x 100,000.
CRUDE DEATH RATE – Number of resident deaths divided by total resident population x 1,000.
INFANT MORTALITY RATE – Number of resident infant deaths divided by total resident live births x 1,000.
LOW BIRTHWEIGHT RATIO – Number of resident low birthweight live births divided by total resident live births x 1,000.