Relative survival compares observed survival in a diseased cohort with expected survival derived from a suitable reference population. A useful individual model adds a known background mortality hazard to a common excess hazard. Reference mortality can depend on age, sex and calendar time. The comparison avoids classifying each death by cause, but its interpretation depends on the reference population being appropriate. An excess-survival ratio is not automatically the effect of a causal intervention removing one cause of death.
Relative survival is a statistical measure used in epidemiology and public health to assess the survival of individuals diagnosed with a particular disease, typically cancer, in comparison to the survival of a comparable group from the general population who do not have the disease. The relative survival rate is calculated by taking the observed survival rate of patients with the disease and dividing it by the expected survival rate of the general population, adjusted for factors such as age, sex, and time period.
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