Impact of the Burden of COVID-19 in Italy: Results of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and Productivity Loss.

Mario Cesare Nurchis,Patrizia Laurenti,Francesco Castrini,Leonardo Villani,Gianfranco Damiani,Maria Lucia Specchia,Floriana D'Ambrosio,Domenico Pascucci,Martina Sapienza

doi:10.3390/ijerph17124233

Abstract

The WHO declared the novel coronavirus disease a pandemic, with severe consequences for health and global economic activity and Italy is one of the hardest hit countries. This study aims to assess the socio-economic burden of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy through the estimation of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and productivity loss. The observational study was based on data from official governmental sources collected since the inception of epidemic until 28 April 2020. DALYs for a disease combines the years of life lost due to premature mortality in the population and the years lost due to disability of the disease. In addition to DALYs, temporary productivity loss due to absenteeism from work and permanent productivity loss due to premature mortality were estimated using the Human Capital Approach. The total DALYs amount to 2.01 per 1000 persons. The total permanent productivity loss was around EUR 300 million while the temporary productivity loss was around EUR 100 million. This evaluation does not consider other economic aspects related to lockdown, quarantine of contacts, healthcare direct costs etc. The burden of disease methodology is functional metric for steering choices of health policy and allowing the government to be accountable for the utilization of resources.

Highlights

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause diseases ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the SevereAcute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).A novel coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus never previously identified among humankind
The methodology developed by Murray and Lopez was adapted to the Italian context, aiming to quantify the relevant health impact of COVID-19 for the country
Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), a summary measure of population health, combines time lost due to premature mortality (YLL) and time lived with disability (YLD)

Summary

Introduction

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause diseases ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain of coronavirus never previously identified among humankind. The virus has been named “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. 2” (SARS-CoV-2, formerly 2019-nCoV) and it was reported, for the first time, in Wuhan, China, at the end of December 2019 [1]. The virus spreads by respiratory droplets (coughs, sneezes or talks). These droplets can be inhaled or land in the mouth or nose of a person nearby.

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