Abstract
BackgroundEpidemiological burden of modifiable mortality risk factors is recognized in literature; however, less is known on the economic losses due to a range of such risks.AimTo estimate production losses (indirect cost) of mortality associated with risk factors as classified in Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study in Poland in years 2000, 2010, and 2017.MethodsWe relied on the human capital method and societal perspective and used sex-, age-, region-, and risk-specific data on mortality due to modifiable risk factors and a set of socio-economic measures.ResultsThe production losses due to mortality attributable to all investigated risk factors accounted for 19.6–21.0 billion PLN (Polish zloty; 2017 exchange rate: 1€ = 4.26 PLN) and 1.44–2.45% of gross domestic product, depending on year. Behavioural factors were the most important contributor to overall burden (16.7–18.2 billion PLN), followed by metabolic factors (6.8–7.6 billion PLN) and environmental and occupational factors (3.0–3.5 billion PLN). Of disaggregated risks, alcohol and tobacco, high systolic blood pressure, and dietary risks proved to lead to the highest losses. Cost per death was greatest for child and maternal malnutrition, followed by intimate partner violence and childhood sexual abuse and bullying. Moreover, a notable regional variation of indirect cost was identified with losses ranging from 1.21 to 1.81% of regional gross domestic product in 2017.ConclusionOur findings provide economically hierarchised list of modifiable risk factors and they contribute to inform policy-makers in prioritizing programmes to improve health.
Highlights
Economic burden of health problems and diseases is one of the extensively researched areas in public health [1, 2] and this issue has a vital role in health policy decision-making, including public financing of health interventions and prioritizing diseases’ treatment [3, 4]
This study aims to fill this gap by applying the data on modifiable risk factors estimated in the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2019 [14] to identification of production losses attributable to these risks
We are aware of potential inclusion of morbidity dimension into our analysis, we argue that the monetization of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for the purpose of production losses estimation is not a common practice
Summary
Economic burden of health problems and diseases is one of the extensively researched areas in public health [1, 2] and this issue has a vital role in health policy decision-making, including public financing of health interventions and prioritizing diseases’ treatment [3, 4]. There are studies concerned with cost of alcohol [5], tobacco and drug use [6], dietary risks [7], physical inactivity [8], air pollution [9, 10], and other health risks, the evidence on the economic burden of a comprehensive range of risk factors is scarce. The only study concerned with cost of an exhaustive set of modifiable health risks is an American attribution analysis investigating health care spending associated with 84 risk factors [11]. Aim To estimate production losses (indirect cost) of mortality associated with risk factors as classified in Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study in Poland in years 2000, 2010, and 2017. Conclusion Our findings provide economically hierarchised list of modifiable risk factors and they contribute to inform policy-makers in prioritizing programmes to improve health
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