Study Of Burden Of Diseases Among Rural People In Dafeng County, Jiangsu Province

Objective To measure burden of diseases (BOD) among rural people in Dafeng County during 1997 and 2006 with disability-adjusted life year (DALY), and to describe the region's long-term develop trends of the burden of diseases and to analyze relevant socio-economic factors. The results were used to identify the major health problems and provide a scientific evidence for policy making.Methods DALY was used as a measurement to measure BOD in Dafeng. YLLs ( years of life lost) was estimated by formula and YLDs ( years lost to disability) was estimated by indirect method, combined with human capital method to calculate the indirect economic burden of disease.Linear regression analysis on time trend of the disease burden was carried out and the relationship between BOD and GDP was analyzed.Results BOD of rural people in Dafeng was 1,099,816 person year, the average DALY loss per 1000 people per year was 152.85 in 1997 to 2006. BOD of Non-communicable diseases (NCD) accounted for 86.08% of total DALYs with 4.72% of communicable diseases and other conditions, and 9.20% of injuries. More than half(58.02%) of BOD happened in the range of age 15 to 59, followed by more than 60 years of age accounting for 31.74% ,0-14-year-old accounting for 10.24%. The top ten causes of BOD were psychiatric illnesses, malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, unintentional injuries, sense organ diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, digestive diseases, diabetes mellitus and intentional injury for males and females, accounted for 90.35% of DALYs, the first five causes accounted for 74.38%. During the ten years, DALY per 1000 people for three major groups of diseases showed a degressive tendency in both male and female. Among the first five causes of BOD, psychiatric illnesses, respiratory diseases and unintentional injuries presented significantly decreasing trend. The BOD of Malignant neoplasms appeared slightly decreasing trend. However, the BOD of cardiovascular diseases tended to increase. Indirect economic burden was brought about by the disease at an average of 645 million yuan, representing a percentage of GDP to 7.18%. In the past ten years the socio-economic losses showed upward trend, the average growth rate of 7.82%, by the year 2010 it will be as high as 1.236 billion yuan.Conclusion The transition of the disease model from infectious diseases as the major disease burden to non-communicable diseases as the major disease burden has been completed in Dafeng. In general the BOD of rural people showed downward trend, but health status is certainly lower than that of the developed areas in China. NCD such as psychiatric illnesses, malignant neoplasms, and cardiovascular diseases are the major health problems. It is urgent for government to increase health care inputs of public finances, to make better health plan and take more effective interventions on NCDs.