Rate Stabilizing Tool

The RST offers an easy-to-use interface for the restricted univariate conditional autoregressive (UCAR) model. With the RST, you can generate small area estimates, credible intervals for those estimates, and the maximum credible levels at which these estimates would be considered reliable.

Parameters

Input Table : table path

Table with one record for each Region ID OR one record for each Region ID and Age Group combination. Table must include two additional columns, which specify the Event Count and Population Count for each Region ID OR Region ID and Age Group combination.

Table can easily be generated using the Individual Data Processor.

Input Table Fields
Region ID : field name

Name of column which uniquely identifies each region.

Event Count : field name

Name of column which contains the number of events in each region OR region-age group combination.

Population Count : field name

Name of column which contains the population of each region OR region-age group combination.

Input Feature : feature path

Boundary file which contains one record for each Region ID.

Input Feature Fields
Region ID : field name

Name of column which uniquely identifies each region.

Additional Options
Credible Level : double = 0.9 | 0.95 | 0.99

Credible level at which credible intervals should be generated for.

Rate Per : integer

Output rate denominator (i.e. per 100,000).

Number of Years : integer

Number of years represented by input data (ouput rates will be divided by this number to give annual rates).

Output Table : string

Path of the output table which contains the stabilized rates.

Age Standardization (optional)

Age Group Field : string

Name of column within the Input Table which specifies age groups.
The following are valid age groups: “0-4”, “5-14”, “15-24”, “25-34”, “35-44”, “45-54”, “55-64”, “65-74”, “75-84”, “85up”.

Standard Population Year : string = 2000 | 2010

The reference year of the standard population used to compute age-adjusted rates.

Standardized Age Groups
Lower age group : array of strings

One or more lower bounds defining the age ranges to include in age standardization. For example, to specify age ranges 35 and older, and 45 to 64, use “35” and “45”.

Upper age group : array of strings

One or more upper bounds defining the age ranges to include in age standardization. For example, to specify age ranges 35 and older, and 45 to 64, use “up” and “64”.

Examples

Scenario 1: I want to generate crude rates per 100,000 with credible intervals at the 0.95 credible level for one year of Michigan event data. I already took that data and ran it through the Individual Data Processor. You can find it as MI_mort_pop within data.gdb.

  • Input Table: data.gdb/mi_joined_event_pop
  • Input Table Fields:
    • Region ID: GEOID
    • Event Count: EventCount
    • Population Count: PopulationCount
  • Input Feature: data.gdb/mi_carto
  • Input Feature Fields:
    • Region ID: GEOID
  • Additional Options:
    • Credible Level: 0.95
    • Rate Per: 100,000
    • Number of Years: 1
  • Output Table: some_project.gdb/crude_rates
  • Age Group Field: Leave blank
  • Standard Population Year: Leave blank
  • Standardized Age Groups:
    • Lower age group: Leave blank
    • Upper age group: Leave blank

Scenario 2: I want to generate age-adjusted rates for the age ranges of 35 and 64, 64 and up, and 34 and up. I want these rates to be per 100,000 with credible intervals at the 0.95 credible level for one year of Michigan event data.

  • Input Table: data.gdb/mi_joined_event_pop_strat
  • Input Table Fields:
    • Region ID: GEOID
    • Event Count: EventCount
    • Population Count: PopulationCount
  • Input Feature: data.gdb/mi_carto
  • Input Feature Fields:
    • Region ID: GEOID
  • Credible Level: 0.95
  • Per: 100,000
  • Output Table: some_project.gdb/age_adj_rates
  • Age Group Field: AgeGroup
  • Standard Population Year: 2010
  • Standardized Age Groups:
    • Lower age group: 35, 64, 34
    • Upper age group: 64, up, up