Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) Health Article

YEARS OF POTENTIAL LIFE LOST (YPLL)

The statistic known as "years of potential life lost" (YPLL) is a measure of the relative impact of various diseases and other lethal forces on a population. It is a useful way to draw attention to the loss of expected years of life due to deaths in childhood, adolescence, and early adult life. Injury-related deaths that affect predominantly young males cause as many lost years of potential life expectancy as cancer, which is mainly a disease of older people, even though cancer may cause more deaths. For instance, in Canada in 1993, injuries killed 10,286 people and cancer killed 25,687 people—yet cancer caused 302,585 YPLL, whereas injuries caused 336,593 YPLL.

JOHN M. LAST

(SEE ALSO: Life Expectancy and Life Tables)