Which statement best defines mortality?

• A. The number of births in a population.
• B. The incidence of a disease in a population.
• C. The number of deaths in a population within a prescribed time.
• D. The total population size.

Answer: (C)

Mortality refers to deaths within a defined population during a specified time period. The statement that counts the number of deaths in a population within a prescribed time best captures this idea. While mortality is often discussed as a rate (such as crude or age-specific mortality rates) to allow comparisons across populations or over time, its fundamental meaning is about how many people have died in a given interval. This differs from births, which measure how many people are born (natality); from the incidence of a disease, which counts new disease cases; and from total population size, which is simply how many people live in the population at a point in time rather than how many have died.