Age-sex specific disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to elevated levels of fluoride in drinking water: A national and subnational study in Iran, 2017

Abstract

National and subnational burden of disease attributable to elevated fluoride levels in drinking water apportioned by sex, age group, province, and community type in Iran, 2017 were quantified based on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The attributable burden of disease was estimated using four input data: (1) effect size of elevated drinking water fluoride levels for dental and skeletal fluorosis, (2) population distribution of drinking water fluoride levels, (3) the threshold levels of fluoride in drinking water for contribution in dental and skeletal fluorosis, and (4) age-sex distribution of population. The attributable burden of disease was only related to dental fluorosis, because the fluoride levels were lower than the threshold value for skeletal fluorosis (4.0 mg/L) in all of the cases. The national attributable prevalence (per 100,000 people), DALYs, and DALY rate in 2017 were calculated to be 60 (95% uncertainty interval 48–69), 3443 (1034–6940), and 4.31 (1.29–8.68), respectively. The national attributable burden of disease was not significantly different by sex, but was affected by age and community type in a manner that the highest DALY rate was related to the age group 10–14 y (6.06 [1.82–12.21]) and over 66% of the national attributable DALYs occurred in rural communities. The attributable burden of disease occurred only in 10 out of 31 provinces and about 94% of the attributable DALYs were concentrated in four provinces Fars (1967 [592–3964]), Bushehr (414 [124–836]), West Azarbaijan (400 [120–808]), and Hormozgan (377 [113–761]). Implementation of fluoride-safe drinking water supply schemes in the four leading provinces can prevent most of the national health losses and partly compensate the increasing trend of disease burden from oral conditions at the national level.