Direct standardization (age-adjusted death rates).

Most population-based mortality objectives and subobjectives in Healthy People 2000 are tracked using age-adjusted rates from the National Vital Statistics System (appendix table I). The exceptions are deaths from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, all motor vehicle crashes, and work-related injuries (objectives 4.1, 9.3, and 10.1), which are monitored with crude death rates from other data systems. In addition, objectives that refer to specific age groups are tracked with age-specific rather than age-adjusted rates. Although the age-adjusted death rate (ADR) is one of the most frequently used indexes of mortality, there is often confusion concerning the basic concepts of its construction, use, and interpretation. Some of the persistent issues include the appropriateness of the ADR as a summary measure, the validity of comparisons between ADRs, the method of calculation, and the appropriateness of alternate summary measures.