What is mortality rate?
Mortality rate refers to the number of deaths within a specific population during a defined period, typically expressed per 1,000 or 100,000 individuals. It can be applied broadly to all causes of death (crude mortality rate) or focused on a specific disease or condition (cause-specific mortality rate). Mortality rates may also be stratified by age, gender, geography, or other demographic factors.
Why is mortality rate important in healthcare and pharmaceutical strategy?
Mortality rates are critical indicators of public health and disease severity. In the pharmaceutical industry, they help prioritize areas of unmet need, guide resource allocation, and support the development of treatments for high-burden conditions. Cause-specific mortality rates are often used in epidemiological modeling, burden of disease studies, and health economic evaluations. Demonstrating a treatment’s ability to reduce mortality can significantly strengthen its clinical value proposition and support regulatory and payer decisions.
