Burden of disease quantifies the health impact of disease on a population in a given year—both from dying early and from living with disease and injury. The summary measure ‘disability-adjusted life years’ (or DALY) measures the years of healthy life lost from death and illness.
In 2015, males experienced a greater share of the total disease burden (53%) than females (47%). A larger proportion of the total disease burden for males was from dying prematurely. For females, the greatest proportion was from living with disease (AIHW 2019a).
The distribution of overall burden between the sexes varied by disease group. Males experienced almost three-quarters (69%) of the total burden from injuries and a greater proportion from cardiovascular diseases (59%). Nearly half (46%) of the total burden of disease in males is from cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and mental and substance use disorders.
After cancer, the ranking of disease groups contributing to total burden of disease differed for males and females. For males, cardiovascular diseases ranked second, followed by musculoskeletal conditions and mental and substance use disorders (AIHW 2019a).
After coronary heart disease, the specific diseases responsible for the most total burden among males and females differed. Among males, suicide and self-inflicted injuries ranked second, followed by back pain and problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer (Table 1).
For more information see Australian Burden of Disease Study: Impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2015.
Table 1: Leading 10 causes of total disease burden (DALY) by disease, males, 2015
|
Disease group
|
DALY(a)
|
Per cent of total
|
|
Coronary heart disease
|
216,774
|
8.6
|
|
Suicide
|
100,882
|
4.0
|
|
Back pain and problems
|
97,862
|
3.9
|
|
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
|
92,367
|
3.7
|
|
Lung cancer
|
91,850
|
3.6
|
|
Dementia
|
69,188
|
2.7
|
|
Stroke
|
62,511
|
2.5
|
|
Anxiety disorders
|
59,446
|
2.4
|
|
Type 2 diabetes
|
58,968
|
2.3
|
|
Depressive disorders
|
57,742
|
2.3
|
(a) DALY = Disability Adjusted Life-Year.
Chart: AIHW. Source: AIHW 2019a.