Risk Factors Affecting Life Expectancy Resulting in Premature Mortalities and the Accompanying Economic Losses

Abstract

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes often lead to increased rates of morbidity and premature mortality thereby diminishing professional productivity. Many chronic diseases are a result of combination of genetic, behavioral, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and environmental risk factors. We examined modifiable risk factors stratified by sociodemographic factors to ascertain economic losses resulting in premature mortality. Mortalities were calculated using a methodology employed by Dr. Ralph Keeney which estimates mortalities from a single underlying cause of death. The results show 2.8M deaths, of which greater than 1.1 million were attributable to risk factors with a productivity loss of $402.5 billion. Our paper showed that the leading causes of preventable deaths across gender and race during this time period had unique patterns with lifestyle factors such as smoking, accidents, and sexually transmitted infections declining, while behaviors such as alcohol, drug use and suicide increased. These findings may not be revolutionary; however, they do strongly reinforce, from an economic point of view, the need for the initiation and/or expansion of several targeted public health campaigns.