16.2.3 Age Range

Table 3: Age Range Scoring

Characteristics	Score
>29-year age range	+1
11-29 year age range	+2
6-10 year age range	+3
3-5 year age range	+5
1-2 year age range	+7

The last four categories of Age Range scores in the above table are prepared based on the 2020 Census population counts and Table 2.

General fertility rates and sexually transmitted infection rates are often reported for the female population of childbearing age using the 30-year age range for 15-44 years old and the approximate population size for the female 30-year age range is four million. Therefore, to incorporate these populations, an additional category with a score of +1 for age ranges greater than 29 years has been included which also reflects the lower identification risk for very large age ranges.

On the other side, age ranges receive a higher score for smaller ranges of years and smaller corresponding population sizes due to an increased risk for identification.

The smallest statewide populations for contiguous ranges of ages under 100 years, as reported for the 2020 Census in table below, were used to establish these thresholds. Note that the smallest population is always associated with the oldest age range and are given a score of seven (7) due to increased variable specificity. These are used to establish standard scoring criteria.

Table 4: Lowest Populations for Age Ranges

Age Range	Lowest Population Age Range	Lowest Population
1-year	99 years	6,708
2-year	98-99 years	16,163
3-year	97-99 years	28,974
5-year	95-99 years	69,636
6-year	94-99 years	98,643
10-year	90-99 years	286,307
11-year	89-99 years	355,657
29-year	71-99 years	3,675,749
30-year	70-99 years	4,035,466

Be aware that other restrictions may apply when reporting age ranges, such as only reporting ages 90 and older as a single category for HIPAA Safe Harbor. Of note, the HIPAA Safe Harbor method specifically identifies the following as an identifier: “All elements of dates (except year) for dates that are directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, death date, and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older.” Although dates are included in the Safe Harbor list, age (<90 years old) is not. The risk score to age ranges reflects the two components of the scoring criteria: size of the potential population and the variable specificity.