J Korean Med Sci.  2016 Nov;31(Suppl 2):S121-S128. 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.S2.S121.

Application of a Modified Garbage Code Algorithm to Estimate Cause-Specific Mortality and Years of Life Lost in Korea

• Lee YR
• Kim YA
• Park SY
• Oh CM
• Kim YE
• Oh IH

• KMID: 2360662
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.S2.S121

Abstract

Years of life lost (YLLs) are estimated based on mortality and cause of death (CoD); therefore, it is necessary to accurately calculate CoD to estimate the burden of disease. The garbage code algorithm was developed by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study to redistribute inaccurate CoD and enhance the validity of CoD estimation. This study aimed to estimate cause-specific mortality rates and YLLs in Korea by applying a modified garbage code algorithm. CoD data for 2010-2012 were used to calculate the number of deaths. The garbage code algorithm was then applied to calculate target cause (i.e., valid CoD) and adjusted CoD using the garbage code redistribution. The results showed that garbage code deaths accounted for approximately 25% of all CoD during 2010-2012. In 2012, lung cancer contributed the most to cause-specific death according to the Statistics Korea. However, when CoD was adjusted using the garbage code redistribution, ischemic heart disease was the most common CoD. Furthermore, before garbage code redistribution, self-harm contributed the most YLLs followed by lung cancer and liver cancer; however, after application of the garbage code redistribution, though self-harm was the most common leading cause of YLL, it is followed by ischemic heart disease and lung cancer. Our results showed that garbage code deaths accounted for a substantial amount of mortality and YLLs. The results may enhance our knowledge of burden of disease and help prioritize intervention settings by changing the relative importance of burden of disease.

Keyword

Cause of Death; Garbage Code; Years of Life Lost; Mortality; Korea

MeSH Terms

Cause of Death
Garbage*
Korea*
Liver Neoplasms
Lung Neoplasms
Mortality*
Myocardial Ischemia

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Simplified garbage code redistribution algorithm for use in Korea.

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  Fig. 2 The number of target cause deaths compared to garbage code deaths from Statistics Korea during 2010–2012.

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  Fig. 3 Proportion of deaths in 2012 assigned a garbage code according to disease groups.

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  Fig. 4 Proportion of redistributed garbage code deaths by target causes.

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  Fig. 5 Proportion of deaths in 2012 assigned a garbage code by sex and age group.

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  Fig. 6 Years of life lost in 2012 by sex and age group after garbage code redistribution.

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  Fig. 7 Proportion of years of life lost by disease group in Korea in 2012 after garbage code redistribution.

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