Standardized Mortality Ratio
The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) compares the number of deaths actually observed in a study population with the number that would be expected if that population had experienced a standard set of age-specific death rates. It is the central output of indirect standardization: a single ratio, usually multiplied by 100, that says whether a group's mortality is higher or lower than a reference after accounting for its age structure. Because it needs only the study group's age distribution and total deaths — not stable age-specific rates within the group — the SMR is the method of choice when the group is small or its age-specific deaths are sparse.
Source record
Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.
- Preston, S. H., Heuveline, P., & Guillot, M. (2001). Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population Processes. Blackwell. · ISBN 9781557864512
- Breslow, N. E., & Day, N. E. (1987). Statistical Methods in Cancer Research, Volume II: The Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies. IARC Scientific Publications No. 82, Lyon. · ISBN 9789283201823
Curated claims
Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.
This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.
Related methods
Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.