Introduction: Viral hepatitis often affects young people; it therefore seems reasonable to analyze the phenomenon of premature mortality due to this reason, using Years of Life Lost (YLLs) measurement.
Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze YLLs due to viral hepatitis in Poland in 2000-2014. For the years 2002 and 2011, socio-economic variables (marital status, level of education, working status, place of residence) were included.
Material and methods: The research material was a database containing information from 5,601,568 death certificates of Polish citizens from 2000-2014. The data on deaths caused by viral hepatitis, i.e. coded as B15-B19 according to the ICD-10, was used for the analysis. The Standard Expected Years of Life Lost measure was used to calculate YLLs. Analysis of time trends was performed with the linear regression method using the joinpoint model.
Results: In the studied period, 3.628 deaths of Polish citizens were caused by viral hepatitis (0.06% of all deaths), which translated to 92,845.70 YLLs (16.17 years per 100,000 inhabitants). The number of YLLs increased over time (p<0.05), reaching its highest value in the last analyzed year - 22.14 years per 100,000. The YLLs average per one death was 25.59 years. Among the risk group there were individuals living in urban areas, divorced/separated, with lower than secondary education, and economically inactive.
Conclusions: Despite the fact that Poland belongs to a group of countries with low mortality due to viral hepatitis, this disease is a serious social problem as measured with YLLs. The study provides the basis for policymakers to implement more effective methods to prevent premature deaths caused by this disease.
Keywords: SEYLL; health inequalities; premature mortality; standard expected years of life lost; viral hepatitis.