åldersmått

åldersmått is a Swedish term that literally translates to “age measure.” It is used primarily in the fields of epidemiology, demography, and public health to refer to statistical rates that have been standardized or adjusted for the effect of age. Because many health outcomes, such as mortality, incidence of disease, or utilization of health services, vary strongly with age, comparison between populations or over time requires a common age structure to avoid misleading conclusions.

In practice an åldersmått is obtained by applying the age‑specific rates of a study population to a standard population distribution. The resulting rate represents what the overall rate would be if the study population had the same age distribution as the standard. The World Health Organization recommends using the world standard population for international comparisons, while national agencies often use a national standard such as the 2010 Swedish population.

The calculation is analogous to the age‑standardized rate (ASR) used in English‑language literature, and it provides a way to compare health indicators across regions, over time, or by demographic groups while controlling for differences in age structure. The method can be applied to any age‑grouped rate, such as mortality, incidence, prevalence, or service utilisation, and it remains an essential tool for evidence‑based public health policy.