mortality rate

noun

plural mortality rates

: the ratio between deaths and individuals in a specified population and during a particular time period : the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time period (such as one year) that is typically expressed per 1000 or 100,000 individuals : death rate

an annual mortality rate of 15 deaths per 1000 people

Note: A crude mortality rate does not distinguish between specific causes of death or groups of individuals and measures the incidence of all deaths in a population during a given time period. More specific mortality rates are based on narrower categories of individuals or causes of death.

an infant mortality rate of 9 deaths per 1000 live births

mortality rates of lung cancer patients

infectious disease mortality rates

Examples of mortality rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

According to a 2022 state audit, 185 people died in San Diego County jails between 2006 and 2020, giving the system one of the highest mortality rates in the state. —Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2024

Many of the countries impacted by this report also have high maternal mortality rates, making access to reproductive services particularly crucial. —Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 27 Mar. 2024

As such, the activist physician has dedicated much of her life toward addressing critical issues impacting the Black community, such as increasing access to healthcare, reducing maternal mortality rates, and combatting residual structural hurdles from discriminatory practices like red lining. —Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 26 Mar. 2024

In 2006, the clinics first addressed the high mortality rates of truckers during the AIDS epidemic. —Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2024

The mortality rate for Sankuru children under 5 is 15% to 20% — no one knows the exact number because the data collection is as poor as the population. —Paul Law, STAT, 12 Mar. 2024

One group within that crisis has borne the brunt of the worsening maternal mortality rate: Black women. —Theara Coleman, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024

Compared to white Americans, Black Americans tend to be diagnosed with more aggressive cancers, have higher mortality rates, and have less access to quality care, Siegel explained. —Julia Landwehr, Health, 30 Jan. 2024

San Diego County jails have had one of the highest mortality rates in California for years. —Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

mortality rate

noun

: the ratio between deaths and individuals in a specified population and during a particular time period : the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time period (such as one year) that is typically expressed per 1000 or 100,000 individuals : death rate

an annual mortality rate of 15 deaths per 1000 people

Note: A crude mortality rate does not distinguish between specific causes of death or groups of individuals and measures the incidence of all deaths in a population during a given time period. More specific mortality rates are based on narrower categories of individuals or causes of death.

mortality rates of liver cancer patients

an infant mortality rate of 9 deaths per 1000 live births