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I want to produce age-adjusted incidence rates for a disease in a population. I have found the incidence rates by age in one data source, and the total population by age in another source. (The population I want to apply the incidence rates to is a subset of the total population for which these were estimated.)

However, the age bands are defined differently in the two data sources. In the source which gives the incidence rates by age, the age bands are defined like this: 21 – 30, 31 – 40, 41 – 50, etc. In the source which provides the population by age, the age bands are defined like this: 20 – 29, 30 – 39, 40 – 49, etc. The incidence rate increases with age, and therefore, if I apply the incidence rates to the population by age, I will underestimate the prevalence of the disease in the population.

Is there a way to adjust the incidence rates so they match the age bands for my population estimates?

StatsCat
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    My guess is that the difference is too slight for your results to be meaningfully less accurate than if the age ranges matched. – Kodiologist Jul 09 '16 at 14:20

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