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Health Event Counts


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. The table below shows some examples of counts.

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. This is why the Dataset Query Builder pages do not have maps as a choice when the measure is Count. 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.