glossary chapter 2

asphyxia

Interutupted breathing leading to low levels of oxygen in the body, unconsciousness and often death.

burden of disease

• A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries, specifically the gap between current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and disability.

• The burden of disease is measured in a unit called the DALY.

DALY

• A measure of the burden of disease.

• One DALY is equal to one year of healthy life lost due to illness and/or death.

• DALYs are calculated as the sum of the years of life lost due to premature death and the years lived with disability for people living with the health condition or its consequences.

HALE

The average length of time an individual at a specific age can expect to live in full health; that is, time lived without the health consequences of disease or injury.

incidence

refers to the number (or rate) of new cases of a disease/condition in a population during a given period (usually 12 months)

prevalence

the total number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.

morbidity

ill health in an individual and levels of ill health within a population (often expressed through incidence and prevalence).

mortality

relates to death, often at a population level

mortality ratio

the measure of the proportion of a population who die in a one-year period (usually per 100 000); sometimes referred to as ‘death rate’

maternal mortality

death of a mother during pregnancy, childbirth or within six weeks of delivery

maternal mortality ratio

the number of mothers who die as a result of pregnancy, childbirth or associated treatment per 100,000 women who give birth

infant mortality

deaths in children between birth and their first birthday

infant mortality rate

the rate of deaths of infants before their first birthday, usually expressed per 1000 live births

under 5 mortality

relates to deaths in children between birth and their fifth birthday

Under-5 mortality rate

the number of deaths of children under five years of age per 1000 live births

years of life lost YLL

a measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death

years lived with disability

a measure of how many healthy years of life are lost due to disease, injury or disability

life expectancy

the number of years of life, on average, remaining to an individual at a particular age if death rates do not change. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth.

Self-assessed health status

‘An individual’s own opinion about how they feel about their health, their state of mind and their life in general’. It is commonly sourced from population surveys.

Health indicators

standard statistics that are used to measure and compare health status (e.g life expectancy, mortality rates, morbidity rates)

health status

an individual's or population's overall level of health and well-being taking into account various indicators such as life expectancy, mortality and morbidity