Dødelverdi

Dødelverdi is a statistical measure used to describe the lethality of a disease or hazard in public health and epidemiology. In many contexts it corresponds to the case fatality rate (CFR), defined as the number of deaths among individuals diagnosed with the disease divided by the total number of diagnosed cases, commonly expressed as a percentage.

Calculation example: if 50 døde among 1000 bekreftede tilfeller, dødelverdi (CFR) = 50 / 1000 = 5 prosent. The value is sensitive to how cases are identified and reported, and to the time window used for follow-up after diagnosis.

Distinctions: dødelverdi differs from dødelighet (mortality rate), which is the number of deaths in a population per unit of time regardless of diagnosis. It can also differ from infeksjonsdødelighet (infection fatality rate, IFR), which estimates deaths divided by total infections, including undiagnosed ones.

Interpretation: A higher dødelverdi indicates greater lethality among diagnosed cases, but the figure depends on case detection, testing capacity, surveillance quality, stage of the outbreak, and treatment availability. It is not a fixed property of a disease alone.

Limitations: time lags between diagnosis and death, underreporting, differences in testing, changes in treatment, and variations in population structure (age, comorbidities) can all bias the value.

Uses: dødelverdi is used to assess disease severity, compare outcomes across populations or diseases, and inform public health decisions and risk communication.