• Ferrán Catalá-López, Ricard Gènova-Maleras, Manuel Ridao, Elena Álvarez, Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno, Consuelo Morant, and Salvador Peiró.
• Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública, Valencia, Spain. ferran_catala@hotmail.com
• Med Clin Barcelona. 2013 Apr 20; 140 (8): 343-50.

Background And ObjectiveAn important input to decision-making and health planning is a consistent and comparative description of the population health status. The purpose of this study was to describe the burden of disease in the Region of Valencia (Spain).Material And MethodsDisability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated and divided into years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs). Using death registry data and Valencian population estimates in 2008, we calculated the number of deaths and YLLs. YLDs were based on age- and sex-specific data for countries of the EURO-A subregional level (which includes the Region of Valencia) from the Global Burden of Disease study. The results were stratified by age group, sex and underlying cause of death. The DALY values were used to rank the leading conditions of disease burden.ResultsIn 2008, the total number of DALYs lost was about 551 thousands (53% in men). The main categories of DALYs lost were neuropsychiatric conditions (30%; 167 thousands), malignant tumors (15%; 85 thousands), cardiovascular diseases (13%; 72 thousands) and sense organ diseases (8%; 46 thousands). Depression (8% of DALYs; 47 thousands), dementias (8%; 42 thousands), ischaemic heart disease (5%; 27 thousands), hearing loss (4%; 22 thousands), stroke (4%; 20 thousands) and lung cancer (3%; 19 thousands) were the leading specific causes of disease burden.ConclusionsWe provide for the first time ever information on the burden of disease in the Valencian population. At this local level, the use of DALYs can help to monitor the population health status and guide the debates on rational priority-setting.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

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