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FIGURE 19
POTENTIAL YEARS OF LIFE LOST AND AGE STANDARDIZED
MORTALITY RATES BY SELECTED CAUSES OF DEATH
BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1999
HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 34/FIGURE 19
- Out of the 27,794 deaths in B.C. in 1999, 11,217 (40.4%) were under age 75. The proportion of 'premature' deaths varied considerably by cause of death:
- 1,375 deaths from accidents and violence were premature (77.2%).
- 4,206 cancer deaths were premature (55.6%).
- 2,673 circulatory system deaths were premature (26.8%).
- 724 respiratory system deaths were premature (23.2%).
- Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) is used as an alternative measure of mortality to reflect the impact of deaths that occur at younger ages. For every death under the age of 75, there are potential years of life lost. A comparison of deaths from cancers and external causes illustrates the value of PYLL as an indicator. Cancers were responsible for 4,206 deaths and 53,605 potential years of life lost in 1999. In contrast, the 1,375 deaths from external causes resulted in almost the same number of potential years of life lost (45,622), since a larger proportion of these deaths were in younger age groups.
- In 1999, an average of 16.5 years of life were lost per death under 75 years of age. The causes of death shown in the table that had the highest average Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) were:
- 74.2 years lost per death due to deaths from perinatal conditions
- 52.1 years lost per death due to deaths from congenital anomalies
- 33.2 years lost per death due to external causes, particularly motor vehicle traffic accidents (38.8) and suicide (31.3)
- 25.0 years lost per death due to infectious and parasitic diseases, primarily AIDS/HIV infection (32.8).
- The Potential Years of Life Lost Standardized Rate (PYLLSR) for deaths from all causes was 47.25 potential years of life lost per 1,000 standard population in 1999.
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