Burden of Disease
The burden of disease indicates the amount of health loss in a population caused by diseases, disorders and injuries. The burden of disease is expressed in DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Years). The (Disability Adjusted Life Years. Maat voor ziektelast ('burden of disease') in een populatie; opgebouwd uit het aantal verloren levensjaren (door vroegtijdige sterfte), en het aantal jaren geleefd met gezondheidsproblemen (bijvoorbeeld een ziekte), gewogen voor de ernst hiervan (ziektejaarequivalenten).) is composed of two components: years lost due to disability (YLD) with disease and years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLL) ( Hilderink, H.B.M., Plasmans, MH. D., Poos, M. J. J. C., Eysink, PE. D., Gijsen, R, Dutch DALYs, current and future burden of disease in the Netherlands (2020) ; Hilderink, H.B.M., Plasmans, MH. D., Snijders, B.E., Boshuizen, H.C., Poos, M. J. J. C., van Gool, C.H., Accounting for multimorbidity can affect the estimation of the Burden of Disease: a comparison of approaches (2016) ).
To calculate the contribution of risk factors to the burden of disease, the population attributive fraction (PAF) was used. The PAF indicates the amount of health loss in a population attributable to a risk factor that can be prevented by completely eliminating the risk factor. It is therefore an estimate of the theoretical health gains to be achieved in a population ( Hilderink, H.B.M., Plasmans, MH. D., Verschuuren, M., Contribution of risk factors to mortality, disease burden and health expenditures in the Netherlands (2018) ).