"Rates" of birth defects |
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| Authors: | J Schulman G Shaw S Selvin |
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| Institution: | California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, March of Dimes, Emeryville, California 94608. |
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| Abstract: | The proportion of children born with a particular defect is not a "birth defect rate" but, rather, a prevalence proportion. The implications of confusing a rate and a proportion are discussed in terms of the interpretation of birth defect data. It is recommended that "prevalence proportion" or "prevalence" be used to report the frequency of various defects rather than the often-used "prevalence rate." |
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