age-adjusted rate
(ayj-uh-JUS-ted rayt)
A statistical measure that allows groups of people to be compared in a way that the age distribution differences between the groups in a study do not affect what is being measured. For example, when comparing cancer incidence in different racial or ethnic groups, it is important to adjust for the age distribution of the people in each group. Since cancer occurs more often in older people, if one group has more older people than the other, the results without such adjustment could be misleading.