Abstract
BackgroundDespite positive changes in the health of the population of Poland, compared to the EU average, the average life expectancy in 2011 was 5 years shorter for males and 2.2 years shorter for females. The immediate cause is the great number of premature deaths, which results in years of life lost in the population. The aim of the study was to identify the major causes of years of life lost in Poland.MethodsThe analysis was based on a database of the Central Statistical Office of Poland, containing information gathered from 375,501 death certificates of inhabitants of Poland who died in 2011. The SEYLLp (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per living person) and the SEYLLd (SEYLL per death) measures were calculated to determine years of life lost.ResultsIn 2011, the total number of years of life lost by in Polish residents due to premature mortality was 2,249,213 (1,415,672 for males and 833,541 for females). The greatest number of years of life lost in males were due to ischemic heart disease (7.8 per 1,000), lung cancer (6.0), suicides (6.6), cerebrovascular disease (4.6) and road traffic accidents (5.4). In females, the factors contributing to the greatest number of deaths were cerebrovascular disease (3.8 per 1,000), ischemic heart disease (3.7), heart failure (2.7), lung cancer (2.5) and breast cancer (2.3). Regarding the individual scores per person in both males and females, the greatest death factors were road traffic accidents (20.2 years in males and 17.1 in females), suicides (17.4 years in males and 15.4 in females) and liver cirrhosis (12.1 years in males and 11.3 in females).ConclusionsIt would be most beneficial to further reduce the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, because they contribute to the greatest number of years of life lost. Moreover, from the economic point of view, the most effective preventative activities are those which target causes which result in a large number of years of life lost at productive age for each death due to a particular reason, i.e. road traffic accidents, suicides and liver cirrhosis.
Highlights
Despite positive changes in the health of the population of Poland, compared to the EU average, the average life expectancy in 2011 was 5 years shorter for males and 2.2 years shorter for females
The Standard expected years of life lost (SEYLL) (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost) measure was used to calculate the number of years of life lost by the studied population in comparison with the years lost by a referential population
In 2011, the total number of years of life lost due to premature mortality by the inhabitants of Poland was 2,249,213 (1,415,672 for males and 833,541 for females: Table 1), which represents 58.4 years per 1,000 inhabitants (75.9 per 1,000 males and 41.9 years per 1,000 females)
Summary
Despite positive changes in the health of the population of Poland, compared to the EU average, the average life expectancy in 2011 was 5 years shorter for males and 2.2 years shorter for females. Maniecka-Bryła et al BMC Public Health (2015) 15:101 the lifespan of a male living in Poland is on average 5 years shorter than that of the mean male lifespan within the European Union as a whole, and 7.5 years shorter than that of males in Sweden, whose lifespan is the longest in the EU. The average life expectancy for men in Poland is equal to the mean value observed for the European Union 17 years ago. The average lifespan in Poland is the same as the mean lifespan observed throughout the European Union 11 years ago [7]
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