The Non-Communicable Disease Burden in Korea: Findings from the 2012 Korean Burden of Disease Study

Abstract

In recognition of Korea's rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), we investigated the nation's NCD status and extracted detailed information from the 2012 Korean Burden of Disease study. Consistent with that study, we used disability-adjusted life year (DALY) as a metric. Using national data sources and disability weights specific to the Korean population, we analyzed 116 disaggregated NCDs from the study's four-level disease and injury hierarchy for both sexes and nine age groups. Per 100,000 population, 21,019 DALYs were lost to 116 NCDs. Of those, 13.97% were due to premature death (death prior to the standard life expectancy for a subject's age) and 86.03% to non-fatal health outcomes. Based on traditional statistics, the main causes of health loss were mortality of neoplasms; cardiovascular and circulatory diseases; diabetes, urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases; and chronic respiratory diseases. When combined with analyses of premature death and non-fatal outcomes, however, a substantially different view emerged: the main causes of health loss were diabetes mellitus, low back pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, cirrhosis of the liver, osteoarthritis, asthma, gastritis and duodenitis, and periodontal disease (in that order), collectively causing 49.20% of DALYs. Thus, burden of disease data using DALYs rather than traditional statistics brings a new perspective to characterization of the population's health that provides practical information useful for developing and targeting national NCD control programs to better meet national needs.

Keywords: Burden of Disease; DALY; Disability-adjusted Life Years; Korea; Non-communicable Diseases.

Fig. 1

Proportion (A) and number of deaths (B), and number of incidences (C) in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for 9 broad cause groups by sex and age group, 2012.

Fig. 2

Proportions of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (A) with the YLL and YLD as a proportion of total DALYs (B) according to broad 9 cause groups in 2012. YLL, years of life lost due to premature mortality; YLD, years lived with a disability.

Fig. 3

Top 10 causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) with the YLL and YLD shares in males by age-group. X-axis: age group, Y-axis: DALYs per 100,000 males. The maximum value of the Y-axis was tailored to the distribution. YLL, years of life lost due to premature mortality; YLD, years lived with a disability.

Fig. 4

Top 10 causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) with the YLL and YLD shares in females by age-group. X-axis: age group, Y-axis: DALYs per 100,000 females. The maximum value of the Y-axis was tailored to the distribution. YLL, years of life lost due to premature mortality; YLD, years lived with a disability.

Fig. 5

Comparison of the proportional distribution of death and years of life lost (YLL) by leading cause of death, 2012. Cirrhosis, cirrhosis of the liver; liver, liver cancer; IHD, ischemic heart disease; TBL, trachea, bronchus and lung cancers; stomach, stomach cancer; colon & rectum, colon and rectum cancers; DM, diabetes mellitus; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; breast, breast cancer.