STD Definitions

Age-Adjusted Rates

A weighted average of the age-specific rates, where the weights are the proportions of persons in the corresponding age groups of a standard population. The calculation of an Age-Adjusted Rate uses the year 2000 U.S. standard million. Benefit: Controls for differences in age structure so that observed differences in rates across areas such as counties are not due solely to differences in the proportion of people in different age groups in different areas. Rates are per 100,000 population.

Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Non-Hispanic + Hispanic may not equal the total number of events due to persons of unknown ethnicity.

International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)

A statistical classification system, in use since 1979, that arranges diseases and injuries into groups according to established criteria. It is used to improve comparability of cause of death statistics reported by different governmental entities. Most ICD-9-CM codes are numeric and consist of three, four or five numbers and a description. The codes are revised approximately every 10 years by the World Health Organization and annual updates are published by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now the Center for Medicare, Medicaid Services.

International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, (ICD-10)

An alphanumeric coding scheme that replaces ICD-9, and used for mortality data since 1999. ICD-10 codes were developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centres for Classification of Diseases.

Non-Rural

Any county with 50,000 or more total population according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census (GA Code § 31-6-2 and 31-7-94.1).

Race

Per the Federal Office of Management and Budget, Directive 15 (1997),

• White is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa;
• Black or African-American is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;
• Asian is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam;
• American Indian/Alaska Native is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment;
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands;
• Multiracial is a person declaring 2 or more of these races.

Note: Rates for years prior to year 2000 use population estimates for the denominator that adhere to a different Federal standard for race: White, Black, Asian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native. So, unlike years 2000 and after, Multiracial is not included. Also, Asian by itself is not available because it was grouped with Pacific Islander (After 1999 Asian is separate from Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander).

Rates using Census Population Estimates in the denominator are not calculated when a selected race is not available in the denominator, or zero.

Nevertheless, selections available in OASIS' Race query box reflect the 1997 Race classifications described above. Most of the numerators used in indicators in Oasis *do* have the year 2000 race selections. Therefore, selections of multiple years that span <2000 and 2000+ will return a *number (count)* for all race selections, but the *rates* may be limited by the change in racial classifications the federal government used as noted above. In these cases you will see NA₁ in the output cell (NA₁ therefore by definition will only show up in rates for the years before 2000).

In some cases, the numerator's race classification may be more precise, or up to date, than the Census population estimate counterpart used in the denominator. You may find that there are a number of births of a given race for a county/age-group selection, but no count of population estimated for the denominator. In such cases where the race selection was available for both the numerator and the denominator, but the denominator's estimate was zero, you will see a NA₂. If the numerator was greater than the denominator, but the denominator was > 0, you will see a NA₃ returned.

Rural

Any county having a population of less than 50,000 according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census (GA Code § 31-6-2 and 31-7-94.1).

Selected Causes Total

‘Selected Causes Total’ shows up in Web Query output tables that have been Stratified, and refers only to any subcategories of a given “parent” cause category. Please note that if a parent cause category is chosen in addition to subcategories, ‘Selected Causes Total’ refers only to the subcategories. Example:

‘Selected Causes Total’ refers only to Falls and Drowning, not the parent category External Causes of which Falls and Drowning are a part. The same principle applies to Selected Races, Selected Ethnicities, etc.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

Number of STDs represents new cases (incidence). Persons can be counted more than once.

STD Rate

STD Rate Formula = [Number of STDs / Population] * 100,000. Rates that use Census Population Estimates in the denominator are unable to be calculated when the selected population is Unknown.

For Congenital Syphilis rate, number of births is used as a denominator instead of population.

STD Data Suppression Rules

- NA₄ indicates that the denominator contains less than 100 population therefore the number or rate (age-specific or age-adjusted) is suppressed at any geography level (State, PHD or County).

- NA₅ indicates that the numerator is less than 5 therefore the number is suppressed at PHD and County levels.

V1.9 (12/8/2023)