J Korean Med Sci.  2019 Jan;34(2):e22. 10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e22.

Years of Life Lost due to Premature Death in People with Disabilities in Korea: the Korean National Burden of Disease Study Framework

• Kim YE
• Lee YR
• Yoon SJ
• Kim YA
• Oh IH

• KMID: 2440164
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e22

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Several studies have been conducted regarding people with disabilities, however no studies have estimated the disease burden due to premature death. As such, we aimed to compare the years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature death between a population with disabilities and the total population of Korea.
METHODS
To calculate the YLLs in people with disabilities, we combined disability registration data from the 2002-2011 Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea and the causes of mortality data by Statistics Korea for 3,158,231 people.
RESULTS
YLLs of people with disabilities were 517,337, which accounted for 23.4% of YLLs of the total population. YLLs per 100,000 people with disabilities were approximately 3.8 times higher than those in the total Korean population. Ischemic stroke was associated with the highest YLLs per 100,000 people, followed by ischemic heart disease, hemorrhagic, and other non-ischemic stroke, diabetes mellitus, and self-harm. Among individuals with physical disabilities, ischemic heart disease was associated with the highest YLLs. For intellectual disability, epilepsy contributed to the most YLLs. For individuals with mental disability, self-harm was the largest contributor to YLLs.
CONCLUSION
The burden of disease was higher in the population with disabilities than that in the general population. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer had a higher burden of disease than did other diseases in the population with disabilities; thus, overall, non-communicable diseases have a higher burden of disease than communicable diseases or injuries in the population with disabilities than in the general population.

Keyword

Mortality; Disability-Adjusted Life Years; Burden of Disease; Years of Life Lost; People with Disabilities

MeSH Terms

Cardiovascular Diseases
Communicable Diseases
Diabetes Mellitus
Disabled Persons*
Epilepsy
Humans
Intellectual Disability
Korea*
Mortality
Mortality, Premature*
Myocardial Ischemia
Stroke