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Understanding CDC WONDER Data: Crude and Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates
Understanding CDC WONDER Data: Crude and Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates

The distinction between crude and age-adjusted mortality rates in CDC WONDER data and how to use this information effectively in mySidewalk.

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Written by Aliyah Hunter
Updated over 2 weeks ago

What is CDC WONDER?

CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) is an online platform that provides diverse health-related datasets. These datasets can be queried and analyzed to aid public health research and decision-making across national, state, and county levels.

Impacted CDC WONDER Tables

mySidewalk includes data from CDC WONDER’s Natality and Underlying Cause of Death tables. However, only the Underlying Cause of Death tables are affected by the distinction between crude and age-adjusted rates.

Crude and Age-Adjusted Rates

Crude Rates:

  • Availability: National, state, and county levels.

  • Definition: The total number of deaths per 100,000 people, unadjusted for population age distribution.

  • Formula: (Number of Deaths / Population) * 100,000

  • Use Case: Comparing service needs between populations, regardless of size.

Age-Adjusted Rates:

  • Availability: National, state, and some county levels (2009–2020 data).

  • Definition: Weighted averages of age-specific death rates, adjusted using a standard population age distribution.

  • Formula: Sum of [(Standard Population for Age Group i / Total Standard Population) * Age-Specific Death Rate for Age Group i]

  • Use Case: Comparing mortality risks across groups and time periods.

Why Aren’t Age-Adjusted Rates Available at the County Level?

Age-adjusted rates are unavailable at the county level for 2021–2022 and pooled years (2018–2022) due to privacy restrictions from the Census Bureau. These restrictions limit access to detailed age-group population estimates required for calculations.

Key restricted data:

  • Single-year age groups and “10-year” age groups.

  • Specific age groups for <1 year and 1–4 years.

Selecting Crude or Age-Adjusted Rates in mySidewalk

Seek Tool

  1. Open the “Time” dropdown menu.

  2. Choose either “CDC Death Rate Years (Crude)” or “CDC Death Rate Years (Age Adjusted).”

Seek example

Chart Tool

  1. Open the “Time Group” dropdown menu.

  2. Select the appropriate rate type.

Chart example

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