New Zealand Mortality 1948 - 2011

Coursera Developing Data Products

February 2015

Mortality by cause in New Zealand

Monitoring the changing causes of mortality over time is a key public health issue. It helps decision makers understand the impact of public health policies on the population.

In this course assignment, the New Zealand mortality data from 1948 - 2011 were analysed and presented for general public use.

The application presents both actual number of deaths and rates per 100,000, age-standardised to World Health Organisation (WHO) standard world population.

Deaths with an unspecified age group or indeterminate gender have been included in the total numbers but excluded from rate calculations.

Using the application

The application is hosted on shinyapp.io: https://micasagroup.shinyapps.io/proj/

screenshot

The application is easy to use.

  • Simply select a cause type.
  • Compare the data with another cause type by selecting the second cause type.
  • Elect to only show the standardised rate or total numbers for easier viewing
  • Move the slider at the bottom to zoom in on a time period

Better insights into the data

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Instead of a traditional, static R plot (shown left), the application provides an interactive way to view the mortality data.

It removes the need to know R and allows the user to focus on drawing insights from the data.

Data Source

Data for this assignment is provided by the Ministry of Health, New Zealand.

More details about this data set can be found here: http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/mortality-historical-summary-1948-2011