Mortality is defined as which of the following?

Mortality is defined as which of the following?

• A. The number of new cases
• B. The death rate
• C. The prevalence of disease
• D. The incidence of notifiable diseases

Answer: (B)

Mortality is the death rate in a population over a defined period. It’s expressed as deaths per a unit of population per time (for example, 500 deaths per 100,000 people per year). This reflects how many people die, not how many people get sick or how many currently have a disease. This differs from incidence, which counts new cases of disease that develop over a period, and from prevalence, which counts all existing cases at a particular point in time. The phrase “incidence of notifiable diseases” refers to new reported cases of diseases required to be reported, not to deaths. So the answer that matches death rate is the correct one.

Mortality is the death rate in a population over a defined period. It’s expressed as deaths per a unit of population per time (for example, 500 deaths per 100,000 people per year). This reflects how many people die, not how many people get sick or how many currently have a disease.

This differs from incidence, which counts new cases of disease that develop over a period, and from prevalence, which counts all existing cases at a particular point in time. The phrase “incidence of notifiable diseases” refers to new reported cases of diseases required to be reported, not to deaths. So the answer that matches death rate is the correct one.