Territorial differences in years of life lost due to premature mortality in inhabitants of Poland

INTRODUCTION: Reduction of social and territorial differences with regards to health of a population is one of the most crucial global problems of public health. An analysis of years of life lost focuses on social and economic aspects of premature mortality.

AIM: The aim of the study is to analyze territorial differences in years of life lost due to premature mortality in inhabitants of various regions of Polan d, according to the most important causes of death, with consideration given to classification categories of ICD-10.

METHODS: The study material included a database which contained information gathered from 387,312 death certificates of inhabitants of Poland in 2013. The SEYLLp index (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per living person) was used to calculate standard expected years of life lost.

RESULTS: The absolute number of years of life lost in inhabitants of Poland for the year 2013 was 4,168,256 in males and 2,536,447 in females, which corresponded to 2,237 years per 10,000 males and 1,277 per 10,000 females. Inhabitants of the Lodz Province are characterized with the highest number of years of life lost (2,858 years per 10,000 males and 1,544 per 10,000 females), whereas inhabitants of the Subcarpathian Province are characterized with the lowest number of years of life lost (1,833 years per 10,000 males and 1,039 per 10,000 females). In the male group, the highest SEYLLp values were contributed by: ischemic heart disease (217 years), malignant neoplasms of the trachea, bronchi and lungs (175 years) and cardiac insufficiency (156 years), whereas in the female group, the causes included: cerebral diseases (106 years), cardiac insufficiency (105 years) and ischemic heart disease (103 years)

CONCLUSIONS: There are huge territorial differences in Poland with regards to a number of years of life lost. Thus, there is a need to continue studies in order to find an explanation for these differences and gradually eliminate them.