All Indicators > Indicator SH4: Premature mortality
| Definition | Directly age and gender standardised rate of average annual years of life lost up to age 75 per 10,000 resident population |
| Dimension | Situation of health |
| Sector | Health status (individual) |
| Components |
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| Source Numerator | 2001, 2001 Ethnic: Deaths from all causes registered in 1999 and 2001, ONS |
| 2003: Deaths from all causes registered between 2001 and 2003, ONS | |
| 2005: Deaths from all causes registered between 2003 and 2005, ONS | |
| Source Denominator | 2001, 2001 Ethnic, 2003, 2005: 2001 Census based mid year population estimates for the respective calendar year, ONS |
| Note | 2001 Ethnic Group: 2001 SOA level data, weighted by SOA population as a proportion of Local Authority population (process as with weights on data) |
Additional details
It is generally accepted that as a person ages they are more likely to suffer from physical morbidity and will have a greater risk of death in any given time period than those younger than them. This greater risk of ill health and death is not deemed by society to be unfair or unjust. Everyone will experience this deficit of health in their lifetime and it is therefore seen as an acceptable and unavoidable aspect of life.
What is defined as unjust and is, therefore, defined here as health deprivation, is unexpected deaths or levels of ill health. The usual way of operationalising this principle in a measure is to age and sex standardise the data. That is to compare the number of deaths or level of morbidity in an area to what would be expected given the area's age and gender structure.
For ethnic estimation an SOA level weighting function was created to model access for individuals in ethnic groups within Local Authorities.