[An analysis of the potential years of life lost to cancer in Asturias and Spain].
BACKGROUND
Potential years of life lost (PYLL) constitute a health indicator, used to study premature mortality. If applied, it produces an order in causes of death, which can be very different from that one, obtained with mortality rates.


METHODS
Mortality, due to different pathologies, was analyzed with this indicator and, particularly, mortality due to cancer in Asturias and Spain. The estimation of (PYLL) was made using fixed age limits: the first anniversary, as the lowest limit, and 65 years, as the highest limit.


RESULTS
Cancer happened to be the first cause of (PYLL) in both populations (286,473 PYLL in Spain; out of them 9,985 belonging to Asturias); road accidents were the second cause (139,673 and 4,755 respectively) and acute myocardium infarcts were the third cause (70,106 PYLL and 2,897 PYLL). Lung tumours, leukaemias and breast cancer in women are the malignant tumours which produce the highest number of PYLL.


CONCLUSIONS
Malignant tumours, road accidents and ischaemic heart disease are the three major causes responsible for the PYLL production in Spain and Asturias. These three pathologies are associated to well known risk factors, whose disappearance would considerably reduce early mortality. Likewise, an excess of premature mortality is observed in Asturias compared with Spain, and in men compared with women.
del Valle Gómez
M O
MO
Area de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo.
López González
M L
ML
Arcos González
P I
PI
Cueto Espinar
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
Análisis de los años potenciales de vida perdidos por cáncer en Asturias y España.