Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) Before Age 75 Years
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of '''premature death'''.
Definition
Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of the number of years not lived by each individual who died before reaching a predetermined age, such as 75. This measure weights deaths at younger ages more heavily than deaths at older ages; the younger the age at death, the greater the number of years of potential life lost.
Data Source
Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(https://wisqars.cdc.gov/)
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | The YPLL for a population is computed as the sum of all the individual YPLL for individuals who died before age 75 years during a specific time period. |
| Denominator: | The number of persons in the population under the age of 75 years. |
How Are We Doing?
The age-adjusted rate of YPLL before age 75 per 100,000 New Jersey residents had been steadily declining for many years as an increasing proportion of the population lives more than 75 years, however a rise in opioid overdose deaths caused YPLL to increase each year from 2015 through 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 YPLL rate to skyrocket to a level not experienced since 1997. The rate declined in 2021 but remains above pre-pandemic levels. The YPLL rate is highest among Blacks, followed in order by Whites, Hispanics, and Asians. In 2020, the rate among Hispanics surpassed the rate among Whites as a higher proportion of younger Hispanics died due to COVID-19. The age-adjusted YPLL rate among males is nearly double that of females. The leading causes of YPLL in 2021 were unintentional injury, cancer, heart disease, COVID-19, and suicide. The age-adjusted YPLL rate due to unintentional injury rose sharply between 2015 and 2018 but declined in 2019 and only rose slightly in 2020 and 2021. While the YPLL rate due to cancer continued its steady decline through 2021, the rate due to heart disease rose in 2020, likely due to residents delaying medical treatment during the COVID pandemic.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
The age-adjusted rate of YPLL before age 75 among New Jersey residents is consistently below that of the nation as a whole. While the national YPLL rate continued to rise in 2021, the New Jersey rate declined.
More Resources
"[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm Health, United States]" annual reports through 2017 include trend tables of YPLL rates by gender, race, ethnicity, and leading causes of death. WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is an interactive database system that provides [https://wisqars.cdc.gov/lcd/?o=YPLL&y1=2021&y2=2021&ct=10&cc=ALL&g=34&s=0&r=0&ry=2&e=0&ypll=75 customized reports of YPLL].