About Measure: Ypll: Cardiovascular: Connecticut Health Equity Index

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Cardiovascular

Ypll: Cardiovascular

Time Range: 2005-2008 Resolution: Census Block Group

Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) calculates the relative impact of a disease due to mortaliy under the age of 75. While incidence and mortailty rates are heavily influenced by large number of deaths among the elderly, the YPLL measure provides a picture of premature mortality by weighting deaths that occur at younger agea. The age at death of each person who died under the age of 75 is subtracted from the reference age of 75. This figured is summed for all persons in the area, then normalized by dividing by the population of that location, and averaged over the four years of data. The ICD 10-CM cause of death code for major cardiovascular diseases include I00-I78.

Rationale: Mortality rates tend to emphasize common causes of death in the elderly. This is because the risk of death increases with age. Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) measures the incidence of premature death. It is therefore a better measure of preventable disease and death from the perspective of public health policy, which should be focused on prevention.
Source: Connecticut Department of Health, Office of Vital Records - Death Certficiate. http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3132&q=394598. Population estimates come from the Nielsen Claritas Pop-Facts Demographic Report for 2007