Question

Compute the age specific death rate for the following data:

Age group (in years)	Population (in 1000’s)	No. of deaths
Below $5$	$15$	$360$
$5 - 30$	$20$	$400$
Above $30$	$10$	$280$

Answer 1

In this question, we are given the population and no. of deaths in different age groups and we have been asked to find the age specific death rate. It can simply be found by dividing the no. of deaths of each age category by the population. Do the division individually in the 3 age groups.

Formula Used: Age specific death rate $= \dfrac{{{\text{No}}{\text{. of deaths in that age group}}}}{{{\text{Total population in that age group}}}}$

Complete step-by-step solution:
We are given the population and number of deaths in different age groups and we have been asked to find the age specific death rate. But before finding, let us know, what is the age specific death rate?
Death rate is the ratio of the number of deaths to the total population during a particular period of time. But age specific death rate is the ratio of the number of deaths in that particular age group to the population in that age group. In simple words, it is a death rate limited to a particular age group.
Now, let us find the age specific death rate of the following data.

Age group (in years)	Population (in 1000’s)	No. of deaths
Below $5$	$15$	$360$
$5 - 30$	$20$	$400$
Above $30$	$10$	$280$

We simply have to divide the number of deaths in one age group by the population of that age group.
$\Rightarrow$Starting with the death rate of the children below the age of 5 years,
No. of deaths = $360$
Population = $15000$
Age specific death rate = $\dfrac{{{\text{No}}{\text{. of deaths}}}}{{{\text{Population}}}} = \dfrac{{360}}{{15000}} = 0.024$
$\Rightarrow$ Moving towards the death rate of the people in the age group of $5 - 30$,
No. of deaths = $400$
Population = $20000$
Age specific death rate =$\dfrac{{{\text{No}}{\text{. of deaths}}}}{{{\text{Population}}}} = \dfrac{{400}}{{20000}} = 0.02$
$\Rightarrow$ Finding the death rate of the people above the age of $30$,
No. of deaths = $280$
Population = $10000$
Age specific death rate = $\dfrac{{{\text{No}}{\text{. of deaths}}}}{{{\text{Population}}}} = \dfrac{{280}}{{10000}} = 0.028$

The age specific death rate is equal to 0.028

Note: Sometimes, this rate is also calculated as a percentage.
Age specific death rate of below 5 = $0.024 \times 100 = 2.4\%$
Age specific death rate of $5 - 30$ = $0.02 \times 100 = 2\%$
Age specific death rate of above 30 = $0.028 \times 100 = 2.8\%$