Which statement about PMR is true?

• A. It will increase
• B. It will stay the same
• C. It will decrease
• D. It will become zero

Answer: (B)

PMR measures the share of deaths due to a specific cause out of all deaths in a population. Because it is a proportion, it depends on the relative distribution of causes, not on the total number of deaths or the population size itself. If nothing changes the pattern of how deaths are distributed across causes, the proportion for that specific cause stays the same even as absolute numbers rise or fall. For example, if 20% of deaths are from this cause in year one, and the total deaths double but the same share remains, the PMR remains 20%. It only changes if the relative share of deaths from that cause compared with all deaths changes. Since that relative share is unchanged in the scenario implied, the PMR stays the same.