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Reproductive Health: Glossary |
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AGE-ADJUSTED MORTALITY RATE. A mortality rate statistically modified
to eliminate the effect of different age distributions in the different
populations. |
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BAR CHART. A visual display of the size of the different categories
of a variable. Each category or value of the variable is represented by
a bar. |
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CARRIER. A person or animal without apparent disease who harbors
a specific infectious agent and is capable of transmitting the agent to
others. The carrier state may occur in an individual with an infection that
is inapparent throughout its course (known as asymptomatic carrier), or
during the incubation period, convalescence, and postconvalescence of an
individual with a clinically recognizable disease. The carrier state may
be of short or long duration (transient carrier or chronic carrier). |
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DEATH-TO-CASE RATIO. The number of deaths attributed to a particular
disease during a specified time period divided by the number of new cases
of that disease identified during the same time period. |
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ENDEMIC DISEASE. The constant presence of a disease or
infectious agent within a given geographic area or population group; may
also refer to the usual prevalence of a given disease within such area
or group.
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FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION. A complete summary of the frequencies
of the values or categories of a variable; often displayed in a two column
table: the left column lists the individual values or categories, the right
column indicates the number of observations in each category. |
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GRAPH. A way to show quantitative data visually, using a system
of coordinates.
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IMMUNITY, ACTIVE. Resistance developed in response to stimulus
by an antigen (infecting agent or vaccine) and usually characterized by
the presence of antibody produced by the host. |
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MEAN, ARITHMETIC. The measure of central location commonly called
the average. It is calculated by adding together all the individual values
in a group of measurements and dividing by the number of values in the group.
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NATURAL HISTORY OF DISEASE. The temporal course of disease from
onset (inception) to resolution. |
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OBSERVATIONAL STUDY. Epidemiological study in situations where
nature is allowed to take its course. Changes or differences in one characteristic
are studied in relation to changes or differences in others, without the
intervention of the investigator. |
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PANDEMIC. An epidemic occurring over a very wide area (several
countries or continents) and usually affecting a large proportion of the
population. |
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RACE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY RATE. A mortality rate limited to a specified
racial group. Both numerator and denominator are limited to the specified
group. |
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SAMPLE. A selected subset of a population. A sample may be random
or non-random and it may be representative or non-representative. |
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TABLE. A set of data arranged in rows and columns. |
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VALIDITY. The degree to which a measurement actually measures
or detects what it is supposed to measure. |
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ZOONOSES. An infectious disease that is transmissible under normal
conditions from animals to humans. |
Date last reviewed:
06/18/2009
Content source: Division
of Reproductive Health, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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