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Guidance Notes

General Points

Forth Valley Health Profiles comprise various indicators of health. The health of a community is difficult to quantify and great care should be taken in interpreting any health statistics:

  • Look for patterns within the community rather than concentrate on specific figures
  • Look at groups of indicators where there is published evidence of correlation (e.g. Lung Cancer mortality - Inpatient Discharges with Lung Cancer - Prevalence of Smoking)
  • Smaller communities lead to low numbers of life events (e.g. death) - this makes the information less meaningful. Figures based on less than 5 events should be treated with extreme caution.
  • Populations in smaller communities fluctuate more (in percentage terms) than larger communities

Geography

The community areas used in the profiles are those defined by Stirling, Falkirk, and Clackmannanshire Councils. Communities for Falkirk and Clackmannanshire are based on electoral wards, whereas Stirling's communities are amalgamations of census output areas.

Abbreviations

SMR - standardised mortality ratio or standardised morbidity ratio
This is the ratio of the rate of deaths/discharges observed compared to a baseline population such as Scotland.

SIP - Social Inclusion Partnership

SPUR - Stirling Partnership for Urban Regeneration

Other Notes

North Villages - Killin, Balquhidder, Crianlarich, Tydrum, & Lochearnhead