Years of Life Lost Due to Premature Mortality in Northern Iran: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Years of life lost (YLL) is commonly used to determine the social and economic burden of loss due to premature mortality. The present study estimated YLL based on general mortality groups in Golestan Province, Iran, in 2018. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, by referring to the province death registration system information and using standard expected years of life lost (SEYLL) of the World Health Organization (WHO), YLL was calculated due to premature mortality based on general mortality groups in ICD-10 (international classification of diseases 10th revision). Results: The total number of deaths in Golestan Province was 8543 in 2018. The overall YLL due to premature mortality was 129838 years, of which 57.4% occurred among men. The major causes of YLL due to premature mortality (YLL%) were diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) (32.3%), external causes (V01-Y89) (17.3%), certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96) (14.5%), and cancers (C00-D48) (13.9%). After diseases of the circulatory system, the most common cause of YLL due to premature mortality is external causes (22.9%) among men and cancers (16.2%) among women. In general, the highest YLL rate occurred due to circulatory system diseases (22.5 per 1000 people). Conclusion: According to the results of our study, most years of life lost in both sexes are related to diseases of the circulatory system, followed by external causes of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the diseases of the circulatory system and its causes, as well as external causes of morbidity and mortality.