Final answer:
A higher age-adjusted mortality rate than crude mortality rate suggests a greater risk of death within a population when accounting for age distribution, revealing specific health risks or conditions that may not be evident from the crude rate.
Step-by-step explanation:
A higher age-adjusted mortality rate compared to the crude mortality rate indicates that when the data are adjusted for age, the risk of death within the population may be higher than initially suggested by simple counts of death. This adjustment is necessary because populations with a larger proportion of elderly individuals are naturally expected to have a higher number of deaths. Moreover, age-adjusted rates can provide a more accurate reflection of the mortality risk specific to a disease or condition within a population, as they control for the effects of the population's age distribution.
For example, if Country A has a young population and Country B has an older population, the crude mortality rate might be higher in Country B simply because older people have a higher risk of dying. However, if the age-adjusted mortality rates were found to be higher in Country A despite its younger population, it would suggest Country A has health risks or conditions leading to a higher risk of death that might not be apparent from the crude mortality rate alone.