Life expectancy and disease burden in the Nordic countries: results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017

• Published in: The Lancet Public Health
• Main Authors: Ann Kristin Knudsen, Peter Allebeck, Mette C Tollånes, Jens Christoffer Skogen, Kim Moesgaard Iburg, John J. McGrath, Knud Juel, Emilie Elisabet Agardh, Johan Ärnlöv, Tone Bjørge, Juan J Carrero, Christopher R. Cederroth, Anne Elise Eggen, Ziad El-Khatib, Christian Lycke Ellingsen, Seyed-Mohammad Fereshtehnejad, Mika Gissler, Kishor Hadkhale, Rasmus Havmoeller, Lars Johansson, Peter Benedikt Juliusson, Aliasghar A Kiadaliri, Sezer Kisa, Adnan Kisa, Tea Lallukka, Teferi Mekonnen, Tuomo J Meretoja, Atte Meretoja, Mohsen Naghavi, Subas Neupane, Truc Trung Nguyen, Max Petzold, Oleguer Plana-Ripoll, Rahman Shiri, Rannveig Sigurvinsdottir, Vegard Skirbekk, Søren T Skou, Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, Timothy J Steiner, Gerhard Sulo, Thomas Clement Truelsen, Tommi Juhani Vasankari, Elisabete Weiderpass, Stein Emil Vollset, Theo Vos, Simon Øverland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019
• Subjects: Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Greenland; Norway; Daly; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30224-5; https://doaj.org/article/c0deb6843e7e498cb8bd1bb2d6c8dd9b

Summary: Background: The Nordic countries have commonalities in gender equality, economy, welfare, and health care, but differ in culture and lifestyle, which might create country-wise health differences. This study compared life expectancy, disease burden, and risk factors in the Nordic region. Methods: Life expectancy in years and age-standardised rates of overall, cause-specific, and risk factor-specific estimates of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were analysed in the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017. Data were extracted for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (ie, the Nordic countries), and Greenland, an autonomous area of Denmark. Estimates were compared with global, high-income region, and Nordic regional estimates, including Greenland. Findings: All Nordic countries exceeded the global life expectancy; in 2017, the highest life expectancy was in Iceland among females (85·9 years [95% uncertainty interval [UI] 85·5–86·4] vs 75·6 years [75·3–75·9] globally) and Sweden among males (80·8 years [80·2–81·4] vs 70·5 years [70·1–70·8] globally). Females (82·7 years [81·9–83·4]) and males (78·8 years [78·1–79·5]) in Denmark and males in Finland (78·6 years [77·8–79·2]) had lower life expectancy than in the other Nordic countries. The lowest life expectancy in the Nordic region was in Greenland (females 77·2 years [76·2–78·0], males 70·8 years [70·3–71·4]). Overall disease burden was lower in the Nordic countries than globally, with the lowest age-standardised DALY rates among Swedish males (18 555·7 DALYs [95% UI 15 968·6–21 426·8] per 100 000 population vs 35 834·3 DALYs [33 218·2–38 740·7] globally) and Icelandic females (16 074·1 DALYs [13 216·4–19 240·8] vs 29 934·6 DALYs [26 981·9–33 211·2] globally). Greenland had substantially higher DALY rates (26 666·6 DALYs [23 478·4–30 218·8] among females, 33 101·3 DALYs [30 182·3–36 218·6] among males) than the Nordic countries. Country variation was primarily due to differences in causes that largely contributed ...