Glossary
Adjusted rate: A rate that has taken into account influences on a crude rate, such as differences in age composition of the population.
Age-specific rate: "Rate obtained for specific age groups (for example, age-specific fertility rate, death rate, marriage rate, illiteracy rate, school enrollment rate, etc)." 1
AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Birth weight: The weight of an infant at delivery, recorded in pounds and ounces or in grams.
Childbearing years: The reproductive age span of women; conventionally defined as 15 through 44 years of age for the U.S. population.
Congenital anomaly: Physical, physiological, or metabolic abnormality existing before or at birth, but not necessarily detectable at birth.
COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and allied conditions (replaced in ICD-10 by chronic lower respiratory diseases, codes J40 through J47).
Crude rate: The rate of any demographic or vital event that is based on an entire population.
Demography: The study of populations including their size, age-sex composition, distribution, density, growth, natality, mortality, nuptiality, migration, and any other characteristics which may affect these factors.
Ethnicity: The classification of a population that shares common characteristics, such as, religion, traditions, culture, language, and tribal or national origin.
External cause of death: Death caused by Accidents and Adverse Effects (ICD-10 codes V01-X59,Y85-Y86), Suicide (X60-X84,Y87.0), Homicide and Legal Intervention (X85-Y09,Y35,Y87.0,Y89.0), and other outside causes (Y10-Y34,Y36,Y40-Y84,Y87.2,Y88,Y89.1,Y89.9).
Fetal death (stillbirth): Death of a product of conception prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother, regardless of the length of gestation. In Texas, fetal death registration is required only for those cases with a gestation of 20 weeks or more.
General fertility rate (GFR): "The number of live births per 1,000 women age 15-44 years in a given year." 5
Gestation period: Number of completed weeks elapsed between the first day of the last normal menstrual period and the date of delivery.
Homicide: Death due to injury purposefully inflicted by other individuals (ICD-10 codes, X85-Y09,Y87.1), death from injuries resulting from legal intervention (homicide committed by law enforcement officers; ICD-10 codes, Y35,Y89.0).
ICD-10: The International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition. A system for classifying diseases and injuries developed by the World Health Organization and used worldwide to improve comparability of cause of death statistics reported from different countries. The tenth revisions has been in use since January 1, 1999.
Infant: An individual less than one year of age.
Infant death: Death of an individual less than one year of age. Infant deaths are further classified as neonatal deaths and postneonatal deaths. (See also neonatal death and postneonatal death.)
Life expectancy: The average number of years that a person can anticipate living after a given age, usually birth. Most often based upon the current mortality experience of a population.
Life table: Statistical tool typically used to portray expectation of life at various ages. Also provides information on numbers of individuals who survive to various ages, median age at death, age-specific death rates, and the probability of dying at certain ages.
Live birth: The complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, regardless of the duration of the pregnancy, which after expulsion shows any vital signs (heart beat, voluntary breathing, umbilical cord pulsation, or voluntary muscle movement).
Live birth order: The number of children born alive to a mother, including the current child. Important in demography because the probability of having an additional child is affected by the number of children a woman has previously borne.
Low birth weight: A birth weight less than 2,500 grams or less than 5 pounds, 9 ounces.
Malignant neoplasm: A tumor having the properties of invasion and metastasis.
Maternal death: The death of a woman resulting from pregnancy or childbearing, while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy.
Morbidity: Refers to the occurrence of diseases in a population.
Mortality: Death as a component of population change.
Multiple causes of death: All diseases or injuries which led directly to death, or all circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.
Natality: Birth as a component of population change.
Neonatal death: Death prior to the 28th day of life. (See also infant death.)
Neonate: An infant less than 28 days of age.
Occurrence, place of: Location where a vital event took place.
Occurrence data: Data compiled by the geographic place in which the event occurred without regard to the place of residence of the individual(s) involved in the event.
Perinatal: Period from 20 weeks gestation through 27 days after birth.
Plurality: Classification of the number of children born of one pregnancy. Designated as single, twin, triplet, quadruplet.
Population: The total of all individuals in a given area.
Postneonatal death: Death on or after the 28th day of life and before the first birthday. (See also infant death.)
Postneonate: An infant between 28 days and one year of age.
Preterm birth: Birth at less than 37 completed weeks of gestation.
Race: A geographical population of humankind that possesses inherited distinctive physical characteristics that distinguish it from other populations.
Rate: The frequency of a demographic event in a specified period of time divided by the population at risk of the event.
Ratio: The relation of one population subgroup to another subgroup, or to the whole population. The denominator of a ratio may or may not include the numerator. If the denominator includes the numerator, it is a special type of ratio known as a proportion. (See also proportion.)
Remaining years of life: The expectation of life at any given age; the average number of years remaining to be lived by those surviving to that age.
San Antonio Zip Codes: The geographic areas for which much of the epidemiologic data was analyzed. The use of zip codes as a geographic tool was prompted by data availability and deliverability and to increase the information relevancy to residents.
Standardized rate: See adjusted rate.
Statistical cut-off: Date by which records of vital events for a specific year must be received in order to be included in the statistical analyses for that year.
Underlying cause of death: The disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.
Very low birth weight: A birth weight less than 1500 grams, or less than 3 pounds, 5 ounces.
Vital statistics: Demographic data on induced abortions, births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages and divorces.
By the City of San Antonio
San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
332 W. Commerce
San Antonio, Texas 78205
