Hypothetical example illustrating standardized mortality ratio (SMR) Construction Workers Reference Population Age Observed Person-Years Death Rate Per 1000 for each Age Deaths Of Group Observation 40-49 6 1200 2.5 50-59 27 2300 6.1 60-69 98 3750 12.4 70-79 48 975 25.0 Adapted from Chekoway, Pearce & Kriebel Research Methods in Occupational Epidemiology and Ed 2004 SMR= [(Observed Number of Deaths in the Occupational Group)/(Expected Number of Deaths if the Age Specific Mortality Rates were the Same as the Reference Group)] *100 For each age group, Expected Deaths= (Persons-Years of Observation) (Death Rate*) * Include the 1000 in the denominator Calculate the overall SMR for the population of 179 construction workers: What is a good estimate of the SMR?