title: The Non-Communicable Disease Burden in Korea: Findings from the 2012 Korean Burden of Disease Study.
abstract: In recognition of Korea's rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), we investigated the nation's NCD status and extracted detailed information from the 2012 Korean Burden of Disease study. Consistent with that study, we used disability-adjusted life year (DALY) as a metric. Using national data sources and disability weights specific to the Korean population, we analyzed 116 disaggregated NCDs from the study's four-level disease and injury hierarchy for both sexes and nine age groups. Per 100,000 population, 21,019 DALYs were lost to 116 NCDs. Of those, 13.97% were due to premature death (death prior to the standard life expectancy for a subject's age) and 86.03% to non-fatal health outcomes. Based on traditional statistics, the main causes of health loss were mortality of neoplasms; cardiovascular and circulatory diseases; diabetes, urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases; and chronic respiratory diseases. When combined with analyses of premature death and non-fatal outcomes, however, a substantially different view emerged: the main causes of health loss were diabetes mellitus, low back pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, cirrhosis of the liver, osteoarthritis, asthma, gastritis and duodenitis, and periodontal disease (in that order), collectively causing 49.20% of DALYs. Thus, burden of disease data using DALYs rather than traditional statistics brings a new perspective to characterization of the population's health that provides practical information useful for developing and targeting national NCD control programs to better meet national needs.
authors: Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Jihyun
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7758-4794
authors: J
authors: Yoon
authors: Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyeyoung
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8668-8384
authors: H
authors: Seo
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors: In Hwan
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5450-9887
authors: IH
authors: Oh
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. yoonsj02@korea.ac.kr.
authors: Seok Jun
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3297-0071
authors: SJ
authors: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D000071219:Global Burden of Disease / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D056910:Republic of Korea; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burden of Disease; DALY; Disability-adjusted Life Years; Korea; Non-communicable Diseases