Estimating health-adjusted life expectancy conditional on risk factors: results for smoking and obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Smoking and obesity are risk factors causing a large burden of disease. To help formulate and prioritize among smoking and obesity prevention activities, estimations of health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) for cohorts that differ solely in their lifestyle (e.g. smoking vs. non smoking) can provide valuable information. Furthermore, in combination with estimates of life expectancy (LE), it can be tested whether prevention of obesity and smoking results in compression of morbidity.

Methods

Using a dynamic population model that calculates the incidence of chronic disease conditional on epidemiological risk factors, we estimated LE and HALE at age 20 for a cohort of smokers with a normal weight (BMI < 25), a cohort of non-smoking obese people (BMI>30) and a cohort o

SUBMITTER: van Baal PH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636666 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature