Years of life lost during the pandemic significantly higher in deprived
areas, study finds
Communities in the North West of England experienced more than three
times the excess years of life lost in the South West

Date:
February 15, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit hardest in deprived areas
of England and Wales, with excess years of life lost more than three
times as high in the North West than the South West of England. The
research also finds 11 times as many excess deaths in 15-44 year
olds in the most deprived areas compared to the most affluent ones.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit hardest in deprived areas of
England and Wales, with excess years of life lost more than three times
as high in the North West than the South West of England. The research, publishing February 15th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine,
also finds 11 times as many excess deaths in 15-44 year olds in the
most deprived areas compared to the most affluent ones, and suggests
that measuring years of life lost can be more informative for assessing inequalities resulting from the pandemic than looking at excess deaths
alone.


========================================================================== Comparing the number of deaths during the pandemic with statistics from previous years can shed light on its impact, but looking at excess
deaths alone underestimates years of life lost and does not account
for the differences in ages at which people die in different social
groups. Evangelos Kontopantelis at the University of Manchester and
colleagues looked at mortality registers and estimated expected years
of life lost during 2020, by sex, geographical region, and deprivation quintile, using data from Jan 2015 to December 2020.

The team finds striking socioeconomic and geographical health
inequalities, with 1,645 years of life lost per 100,000 of the population
in the most deprived areas and 916 years per 100,000 people in the
most affluent. London and the North West had the highest years of life
lost with South Central and the South West lowest. These inequalities
were also seen when examining excess deaths, especially in younger age
groups: there were 11 times as many excess deaths in deprived compared
to affluent areas in 15-44 year olds, three times as many in 45-64 year
olds, almost twice as many in 65-74 year olds, 1.4 times more in 75-84
year olds and no significant difference in people over 85.

Looking at years of life lost is an effective way of determining unmet
needs and the authors suggest this could be used for prioritising vaccine delivery and providing targeted financial and social support as part
of immediate and longer-term recovery plans. Public health measures and
wider socioeconomic interventions are needed to support communities that
have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Kontopantelis adds, "The impact of the pandemic, when quantified
using years of life lost, was higher than previously thought,
on the most deprived areas of England and Wales, widening
pre-existing health inequalities." special promotion
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========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Evangelos Kontopantelis, Mamas A. Mamas, Roger T. Webb, Ana Castro,
Martin K. Rutter, Chris P. Gale, Darren M. Ashcroft, Matthias
Pierce, Kathryn M. Abel, Gareth Price, Corinne Faivre-Finn,
Harriette G. C. Van Spall, Michelle M. Graham, Marcello Morciano,
Glen P. Martin, Matt Sutton, Tim Doran. Excess years of life
lost to COVID-19 and other causes of death by sex, neighbourhood
deprivation, and region in England and Wales during 2020: A
registry-based study. PLOS Medicine, 2022; 19 (2): e1003904 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pmed.1003904 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220215140747.htm

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