title: Economic burden of disease-associated malnutrition in China.
abstract: Disease-associated malnutrition (DAM) is a well-recognized problem in many countries, but the extent of its burden on the Chinese population is unclear. This article reports the results of a burden-of-illness study on DAM in 15 diseases in China. Using data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the China Health and Nutrition Survey, and the published literature, mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost because of DAM were calculated; a financial value of this burden was calculated following WHO guidelines. DALYs lost annually to DAM in China varied across diseases, from a low of 2248 in malaria to a high of 1 315 276 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The total burden was 6.1 million DALYs, for an economic burden of US$66 billion (Chinese ¥ 447 billion) annually. This burden is sufficiently large to warrant immediate attention from public health officials and medical providers, especially given that low-cost and effective interventions are available.
authors.affiliation: Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Mark T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Linthicum
authors.affiliation: Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA julia.snider@precisionhealtheconomics.com.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thornton Snider
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Rhema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaithianathan
authors.affiliation: Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Yanyu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: LaVallee
authors.affiliation: Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Darius N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lakdawalla
authors.affiliation: Precision Health Economics, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Benner
authors.affiliation: Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Tomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Philipson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004194:Disease; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000191:economics* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: burden of illness; disability-adjusted life year; disease-associated malnutrition; malnutrition; quality of life