souroin  +  41542 Tue, 10 Aug 04 05:28 PM Hello everyone, After checking through web, I found that only a few website gave the definition. It might be context dependable but I'm not sure. One site says (quote) "Specifically identified in this publication as the ""annual death rate per 1,000 patient years at risk,"" it is the number of deaths for every 1,000 patient years on the waiting list. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of patients who died in a given year by the sum of the years (including partial years) that patients spent waiting and then multiplying by 1,000." Does this represent common understanding it ought to be or is there any other commonly understood definition? Am I still missing something to withdraw solid answer for what I am questioning in a vague tone here? Please guide me. Many thanks, souroin Joined on Sat, Feb 21 2004 Tokyo, Japan Junior Member 57

	Mister Micawber  +  48940 Mon, 04 Oct 04 12:48 PM No, do not multiply by 1000 to determine patient-years at risk. It is: 'the number of deaths for every 1 patient year on the waiting list. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of patients who died in a given year by the sum of the years (including partial years) that patients spent waiting.' The confusion arises in that many statistics-- for example out-patient referral rates, death rates-- are calculated per 1000 patient-years. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,788 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	anon1  +  49114 Tue, 05 Oct 04 05:38 PM Hi, I think the formula from what I have seen looks like this: Deaths per 1000 patient years=(number of deaths/(sum of all time spent on the patients on waiting lists))*1000 For example, if you had the following: > 5 patients die > 2400 months of time spent on waiting list by both patients who died and those those that did not > 2400 months equals 200 years Deaths per 1000 patient years = (5/200)*1000 Deaths per 1000 patient years = 0.025 * 1000 Deaths per 1000 patient years = 25 For every 1000 patient years spent on a waiting list, you could expect 25 deaths. Looking at our original data, we see that there were 200 years with 5 deaths. So a using a simply ratio of 5 yields 1000 years and 25 deaths. MountainHiker p.s.: You should verify this formula with a medical professional. anon1 Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004 Senior Member 2,049