Data Notes

  • Data are for residents unless specified otherwise.
  • Some sample data contain 95% intervals. Their format appears as (a, b), where a is the lower bound, and b is the upper bound. Additionally, “Est” stands for “point estimate”, the actual estimate from the survey conducted, and “Int” stands for “95% confidence interval”, the actual 95% confidence interval estimate for the point estimate. For further explanation on point estimates and confidence intervals, please visit our “Data Analysis” informational section located at https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/HealthStatistics/Statistical-Resources/UnderstandingHealthStats/Pages/Tools-of-the-trade.aspx
  • “NA” is displayed whenever data are not available.
  • Unknowns are excluded from calculations unless specified otherwise.

Data Reliability

Rates are considered unreliable when they are based on a small number of events. The rates in this report are displayed as “DSU” (data statistically unreliable) whenever the number of events is less than 10. The exception is BRFSS sample data where rates are not shown whenever the sample size is less than 50 or the standard error is too large.

Race and Ethnicity

  • Race and ethnicity data for sexually transmitted diseases and other communicable diseases may contain large percentages of unknown and other categories.
  • Race/ethnicity and age data for births and fetal deaths are based upon the mother.
  • Starting with 2013 data, race of mother (birth data) and race of decedent (death data) were derived from multiple race selections. Prior to 2013, race of mother and decedent were derived from a single race designation.

Age-adjusted Rates

Age-adjusted rates/percentages were calculated using the U.S. 2000 standard million population distribution. These figures are comparable only to age-adjusted rates/percentages that were calculated using the same standard.

MICH-08

In the transition from HP 2020 to HP 2030, the measure for MICH-08 remains unchanged from the measure used for MICH-10.2. However, the way that MICH-10.2 calculated the APNCU relied on imputation. For MICH-08, the variables used to calculate the APNCU changed so that only a small amount of imputation is now used.