Smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and direct health care costs for Puerto Rico, 1983
Dietz, V.J.; Novotny, T.E.; Rigau-Pérez, J.G.; Schultz, J.M.
Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization 25(1): 77-86
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0085-4638 PMID: 2054555 Document Number: 373276
The authors report the impact of smoking upon health in Puerto Rico for the year 1983. Using a microcomputer spread-sheet program that calculates smoking-attributable disease impact, they estimated that 2,468 deaths were attributable to smoking. This represented 11.5% of all deaths on the island in 1983 and resulted in approximately 19,445 years of potential life lost (YPLL). It appears that cigarette smoking caused US+55.9 million in direct health care expenditures for Puerto Rico in 1983, an amount equal to 10% of the island's yearly expenditures on health. Calculations such as these demonstrate the enormous disease impact of smoking and may assist policy-makers in planning prevention and intervention activities, both in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in Latin America.