Health Event Counts


When communicating with health planning groups or legislators, the total number of health events, or the count, can convey the magnitude of a health problem, the prevention effort required, or the health care that may be needed. Table 1 shows some examples of counts.

Table 1: Number of Deaths for Four Leading Causes by Cause and Sex, New Jersey, 2005


Underlying Cause of Death

Men

Women

Total
Heart disease

9,590

10,888

20,478
Cancer

8,386

8,650

17,036
Stroke

1,409

2,166

3,575
Chronic lower respiratory diseases

1,363

1,762

3,125


Counts of health events are useful, but have limitations for those who need to compare populations of unequal size, for instance, a subpopulation versus an overall state population. Knowing the population sizes can help to interpret counts, but computing a rate will allow direct comparison between populations of unequal size that are otherwise similar (e.g., similar age composition, similar culturally).

Go to the page on health event rates.

Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360, Phone: 609-984-6703, Fax: 609-984-7633, e-mail: chs@doh.state.nj.us, Web: www.nj.gov/health/chs
The information provided above is from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services' NJSHAD Web site (http://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 16 May 2012 16:08:16 from New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Center for Health Statistics, State Health Assessment Data Web site: http://nj.gov/health/shad".

Content updated: Wed, 2 May 2012 04:01:10 EDT