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AGE-ADJUSTED RATE: A rate statistically modified to eliminate the effect of different age distributions in the different populations.

CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.
http://www.cdc.gov/

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: The characteristics: age, sex, race, and occupation, of descriptive epidemiology used to characterize the populations at risk.

DENOMINATOR: The lower portion of a fraction used to calculate a rate or ratio. In a rate, the denominator is usually the population (or population experience, as in person-years, etc.) at risk.

DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY: The aspect of epidemiology concerned with organizing and summarizing health-related data according to time, place, and person.

EPIDEMIOLOGY: The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems.

HEALTH: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

HEALTH INDICATOR: A measure that reflects, or indicates, the state of health of persons in a defined population, e.g., the infant mortality rate.

Healthy People 2010: Healthy People 2010 is the prevention agenda for the USA. It is a statement of national health objectives designed to identify the most significant preventable threats to health and to establish national goals to reduce these threats.
http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/default.htm

HIGH-RISK GROUP: A group in the community with an elevated risk of disease.

INCIDENCE RATE: A measure of the frequency with which an event, such as a new case of an illness, occurs in a population over a period of time. The denominator is the population at risk; the numerator is the number of new cases occurring during a given time period (typically a year).

IPLAN: The Illinois Administrative Code requires local health departments in Illinois to complete a community health needs assessment and health plan called IPLAN to fulfill the provisions for certification at least every five years.
http://app.idph.state.il.us/index.htm

MIDPOINT POPULATION: There is an assumption that half of births and deaths in the population would have taken place by the midpoint (June 30) of the twelve months. To try and provide a more accurate rate, the population is considered to be at the midpoint of the year to account for population changes during the year.

MORBIDITY: Any departure, subjective or objective, from a state of physiological or psychological well-being.

MORTALITY RATE: A measure of the frequency of occurrence of death in a defined population during a specified interval of time.

MORTALITY RATE, INFANT: A ratio expressing the number of deaths among children under one year of age reported during a given time period divided by the number of births reported during the same time period.

NUMERATOR: The upper portion of a fraction.

PERSON-TIME: The total of the units of time that people were exposed to a condition or were actively involved in a study. One person-year can represent a single person exposed for one year or an accumulation, therefore, two people exposed for half a year equal one person-year.

PERSON-TIME RATE: A measure of the incidence rate of an event in a population over an observed period. The person-time rate directly incorporates time into the denominator.

POPULATION: The total number of inhabitants of a given area or country. In sampling, the population may refer to the units from which the sample is drawn, not necessarily the total population of people.

PREVALENCE: The number or proportion of cases or events or conditions in a given population.

PREVALENCE RATE: The proportion of persons in a population who have a particular disease or attribute at a specified point in time or over a specified period of time.

RACE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY RATE. A mortality rate limited to a specified racial group. Both numerator and denominator are limited to the specified group.

RATE: An expression of the proportional frequency, which an event occurs in a defined population. Rates are calculated on an annual basis.

RATE RATIO: A comparison of two groups in terms of incidence rates, person-time rates, or mortality rates.

RATIO: The value obtained by dividing one quantity by another.

RISK: The probability that an event will occur, e.g. that an individual will become ill or die within a stated period of time or age.

RISK FACTOR: An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, an environmental exposure, or an inborn or inherited characteristic that is associated with an increased occurrence of disease or other health-related event or condition. An example of a personal behavior is smoking.

SEX-SPECIFIC RATE: A rate among either males or females.

TREND: A long-term movement or change in frequency, usually upwards or downwards.

VITAL STATISTICS: Systematically tabulated information about births, marriages, divorces, and deaths, based on registration of these vital events.

YEARS OF POTENTIAL LIFE LOST: A measure of the impact of premature death on a population, calculated as the sum of the differences between some predetermined minimum or desired life span and the age of death for individuals who died earlier than that predetermined age. For example if the predetermined age is 65, a person who dies at 60 years of age has a YPLL of 5 while a child who dies at 10 years of age has a YPLL of 55.