Abstract
In their recent analysis, Hanlon et al. estimated the years of life lost (YLL) in people who have died with COVID-19 by following and expanding on the WHO standard approach. We welcome this research as an attempt to draw a more accurate picture of the mortality burden of this disease which has been involved in the deaths of more than 300,000 people worldwide as of May 2020. However, we argue that obtained YLL estimates (13 years for men and 11 years for women) are interpreted in a misleading way. Even with the presented efforts to control for the role of multimorbidity in COVID-19 deaths, these estimates cannot be interpreted to imply "how long someone who died from COVID-19 might otherwise have been expected to live". By example we analyze the underlying problem which renders such an interpretation of YLL estimates impossible, and outline potential approaches to control for the problem.
Highlights
In their recent analysis, Hanlon et al estimated the years of life lost (YLL) in people who have died with COVID-19 by following and expanding on the WHO standard approach
When a person died aged 82, she reads from a life table that other people who lived to be 82 would on average, continue to live for another 8 years, and notes this value as YLL for the specific person
The interpretation of YLL estimates should be reasonable in the case of the man who died of a brain cancer since we can assume that his death can be attributed to a specific cause
Summary
Hanlon et al estimated the years of life lost (YLL) in people who have died with COVID-19 by following and expanding on the WHO standard approach.
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