Final answer:
The mortality rate refers to the number of deaths in a population during a specific time period and is key in evaluating health impacts of diseases. It is expressed per 100,000 individuals to standardize comparisons. Mortality rates can pinpoint areas needing healthcare interventions when analyzed by age or sex.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of deaths due to a particular cause is known as the mortality rate. The mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a given population during a specific time period, generally or due to a specific cause. Mortality rates are crucial in public health to understand the impact of various diseases or conditions on populations.
They are often calculated per 100,000 individuals to facilitate comparisons across different populations or areas, quantifying the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year, as they tend to be more meaningful when expressed in this manner.
For example, if a certain age group or sex has a higher mortality rate for a particular disease, this data can help healthcare professionals to target interventions effectively. Furthermore, reporting the mortality rates alongside morbidity rates, which are the occurrences of illness within a population, helps in understanding the overall health impact of diseases and health conditions over time.