Estimation of the Disease Burden Attributable to 11 Risk Factors in Hubei Province, China: A Comparative Risk Assessment

In order to estimate the health losses caused by common risk factors in the Hubei province, China, we calculated the deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to 11 risk factors. We estimated the exposure distributions of risk factors in Hubei Province in 2013 from the monitoring system on chronic disease and related risk factors, combined with relative risk (RR) in order to calculate the population attributable fraction. Deaths and DALYs attributed to the selected risk factors were then estimated together with cause-specific deaths and DALYs. In total, 53.39% of the total deaths and 36.23% of the total DALYs in Hubei were a result of the 11 selected risk factors. The top five risk factors were high blood pressure, smoking, high body mass index, diet low in fruits and alcohol use, accounting for 14.68%, 12.57%, 6.03%, 3.90% and 3.19% of total deaths, respectively, and 9.41%, 7.22%, 4.42%, 2.51% and 2.44% of total DALYs, respectively. These risk factors, especially high blood pressure, smoking and high body mass index, significantly influenced quality of life, causing a large number of deaths and DALYs. The burden of chronic disease could be substantially reduced if these risk factors were effectively controlled, which would allow people to enjoy healthier lives.