INTRODUCTION Excessive alcohol consumption is a leading cause of premature mortality in the United States. The objectives of this study were to update national estimates of alcohol-attributable deaths (AAD) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the United States, calculate age-adjusted rates of AAD and YPLL in states, assess the contribution of AAD and YPLL to total deaths and YPLL among w...

OBJECTIVES To present evidence to support a higher priority for injury prevention in initiatives, research, and budget allocations. METHODS Recent data (2000) for deaths from injury, infectious disease, heart disease, and cancer from 11 countries in the Region of the Americas were analyzed. Analyses focused on: first, Potentially Productive Years of Life Lost (PPYLL, discounted) from deaths o...

BACKGROUND To examine inequalities in health status of Registered First Nations Manitobans compared to all other Manitobans. METHODS Three mortality indicators--premature mortality rate (PMR) defined as an age- and sex-adjusted rate of death before age 75 years; life expectancy from birth; and potential years of life lost (PYLL)--are compared between Registered First Nations (RFN) people and ...

OBJECTIVES Potential years of life lost (PYLL) before age 75 in health regions with a relatively high proportion of Aboriginal residents is compared, by cause of death, with all other health regions. DATA SOURCES The findings are based on mortality data for 1995 through 1997 from the Canadian Vital Statistics Database, and on population estimates for 1995, 1996 and 1997 at the health region l...

BACKGROUND The relationship between domestic funding for selected conditions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the burden of disease and disability in the United States was assessed systematically. METHODS Using mortality, years of potential life lost (YPLLs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), hospital days, hospital discharges, and direct medical costs of cond...

Rising suicide rates have been identified as a social problem in several Western countries. The application of a Welfare Economics argument justifies a role for policy that reduces the welfare impact of suicide, whereas the measurement of that impact can inform policy making. Two dimensions of the concept can be measured: the social loss from suicide, and the inequality in the distribution of t...

OBJECTIVE Cancer risk increases with age, creating a challenge for the Chinese health system. To inform public health policy and research, we evaluated the cancer burden in elderly Chinese. METHODS Based on the published Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Report or related literature and the China Population and Employment Statistics Yearbooks, we estimated the cancer burden of elderly Chinese, w...

OBJECTIVE To describe mortality trends and potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to leading causes of death in 21 Caribbean countries during 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000. METHODS Mortality data for 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 were analyzed to identify regional mortality trends using crude, age-specific and age-adjusted death rates and potential years of life lost. The variables used were age, ge...