Years of life lost due to alcohol-related mortality: A nationwide population study in Poland, 1999-2017.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess alcohol-related mortality and years of life lost (YLL) in Poland between 1999 and 2017.

Methods: A database of 7,168,765 death certificates of Polish residents who died in 1999-2017 was reviewed. This number included 112,512 people who had died due to alcohol consumption. YLL was calculated with the use of the Standard Expected Years of Life Lost (SEYLL) measure; its value was related to the size of the study population and calculated per 100,000 people (SEYLLp). Time trends were determined by joinpoint regression analysis.

Results: In 1999, the SEYLLp value was 653.99 years among males and 71.20 years among females; in 2017, these numbers rose to 1,263.76 and 293.10 years, respectively. Time trend analysis revealed that SEYLLp increased more quickly in females (by 8.69 % per year) than in males (by 3.68 %). The ratio of male to female SEYLLp values decreased from 9.18 to 4.31 over the study period.

Conclusions: In Poland, both males and females are experiencing adverse changes in the number of alcohol-induced YLLs. However, the disparity in YLLs between males and females is gradually decreasing, primarily due to the value increasing more quickly in females.