Assessing the disease burden of Yi people by years of life lost in Shilin county of Yunnan province, China

Shang-Cheng Zhou,Yi-Ling Lv,Peng-Qian Fang,Le Cai,Chong-Hua Wan

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-188

Abstract

BackgroundYears of Life Lost (YLL) is one of the methods used to estimate the duration of time lost due to premature death. While previous studies of disease burden have been reported using YLL, there have been no studies investigating YLL of Yi people in rural China. Yunnan Province ranks first in terms of Yi people in China. This paper uses YLL to estimate the disease burden of Yi people in Shilin county of Yunnan Province. This study aims to address the differentials about YLL between Yi people and Han people for providing useful information for health planning.MethodsWe applied the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) method created by WHO. YLL rate per 1,000 were calculated from medical death certificates in 2003 in Shilin Yi Nationality Autonomous County (Shilin county).ResultsThe male had greater YLL rate per 1,000 than did the female almost in each age group. It demonstrated a higher premature mortality burden due to injuries in Shilin county. Among the top non-communicable diseases, respiratory diseases are the most common mortality burden. Yi people are still suffering from maternal conditions, with two times the burden rates of Han people. For Yi people, while malignant neoplasm was one of the least burden of disease for male, it was the greatest for female, which is the opposite to Han people.ConclusionStrategies of economic development should be reviewed to enhance the prevention and treatment of injuries, maternal conditions and respiratory diseases for Yi people.

Highlights

Years of Life Lost (YLL) is one of the methods used to estimate the duration of time lost due to premature death
This paper has presented data relating to the mortality burden of disease and injuries for Yi population in rural China and to compare it with Han population
YLL was calculated as the first step in estimating the burden of disease and injuries because the data for the calculation of YLL were readily available and can be considered as sufficiently reliable to enable the estimation of the burden caused by premature deaths

Summary

Introduction

Years of Life Lost (YLL) is one of the methods used to estimate the duration of time lost due to premature death. While previous studies of disease burden have been reported using YLL, there have been no studies investigating YLL of Yi people in rural China. Yunnan Province ranks first in terms of Yi people in China. This paper uses YLL to estimate the disease burden of Yi people in Shilin county of Yunnan Province. Accounting for 61% of the total Yi population in China, Yunnan Province ranks first in terms of Yi population [2]. Shilin Yi Nationality Autonomous County (Shilin county) is a rural region in the southeast of Kunming City, Yunnan province [3,4]. It is 78 km from (page number not for citation purposes)

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