Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continue to be the leading causes of ill health, disability, and death in the Region of the Americas, responsible for 5.8 million deaths (81% of total deaths) each year. They include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases, among others, and they share risk factors of tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. While children, adolescents, and young adults (up to 24 years of age) experience NCDs—especially type 1 diabetes, asthma, and certain cancers—efforts to address NCDs to date have focused on the adult population, with children and youths largely overlooked.
This article aims to present the most recent and international comparable metrics of mortality and burden of noncommunicable diseases in children, adolescents, and young adults aged up to 24 years disaggregated by age, sex, cause-of-death/disease/condition, and location (region, subregion, and countries of the Americas) from 2000 to 2019. The interactive data visualization allows you to explore the levels and trends of the burden of disease and mortality in children adolescents and young adults and find new stories and insights from the data. A summary of key findings at the regional level is also presented.
Key findings
A summary of key findings regarding the level and trends of mortality and burden of disease caused by noncommunicable diseases in children, adolescents, and young adults up to 24 years of age for the Region of the Americas is presented below. This section is not intended to provide key findings at subregional, and national levels, however, readers are able to explore the all data and get additional insights using the above interactive data visualization.
Mortality from noncommunicable diseases
In the Region of the Americas, the absolute number of deaths from NCDs in people aged up to 24 years decreased by 23% from 150,478 (95% UI: 99,396 to 220, 957) deaths in 2000 to 116,590 (73,689 to 179,345) deaths in 2019. The mortality rates also declined by 23% from 40.0 (26.4 to 58.8) deaths per 100,000 population to 30.8 (19.5 to 47.4) deaths/100,000.
Regionwide, mortality rates were consistently higher for boys than girls from 2000 to 2019. In 2019, the mortality rate was 35.0 deaths per 100,000 population for boys and 26.4 deaths per 100,000 population for girls.
In 2019, NCD mortality rate in persons up to 24 years of age varied across countries from a high of 69.0 deaths per 100,000 population in Haiti to a low of 15.4 deaths per 100,000 population in Canada).
The top 20% of countries with the highest mortality were Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Paraguay, all with mortality rates over 37.4 deaths per 100,000 population, more than two-fold higher than Canada.
Regiowide in 2019, the five most frequent specific NCDs impacting mortality rates in children, adolescents, and young adults were:
- Congenital anomalies (12.6 deaths/100,000),
- Drug use disorders (1.9 deaths/100,000),
- Leukaemia (1.7 deaths/100,000),
- Brain and nervous system cancer (0.76 deaths/100,000), and
- Kidney disease (0.74 deaths/100,000).
In the region, death rates from most causes of death are declining, except for drug use disorders which rates are rapidly increasing from 1.56 deaths per 100,000 population in 2014 to 2.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 2019.
Years of life lost due to premature death (YLL)
YLL is a time-based measure of premature mortality. It quantifies the number of years of life lost as a consequence of early death, that occurred before the standard life expectancy at the age of death (1).
In the Region of the Americas, YLL rates declined by 25% from 3.340 (95% UI: 2,185 to 4,938) years per 100,000 population in 2000 to 2,497 (1,557 to 3,880) years per 100,000 population in 2019.
Regionwide, YLL rates have been consistently higher for boys than for girls. In 2019, the YLL rate was 2,827 ( to ) years per 100,000 population for boys and 2,156 ( to ) years per 100,000 population for girls.
In 2019, years of life lost due to premature death rates from NCDs in people up to 24 years of age varied across countries from the highest in Haiti (5,696.0 years per 100,000 population) to the lowest in Canada (1,202 years per 100,000 population).
Regiowide in 2019, the top five most frequent specific NCDs impacting YLLs in children, adolescents, and young adults were:
- Congenital anomalies (1,117 years per 100,000 population),
- Drug use disorders (131 years per 100,000 population),
- Leukaemia (127 years per 100,000 population),
- Sudden infant death syndrome (62 years per 1000,000 population), and
- Brain and nervous system cancer (60 years per 100,000 population).
Years lived with disability (YLD)
YLD quantifies the burden of disability, and it refers to the number of years of healthy life lost due to disability or less than ideal health.
In the Region of the Americas, the absolute number of YLDs from NCDs in people up to 24 years of age increased from 15,066 (95% UI: 7,891 to 25,897) thousand years in 2000 to 16,105 (8,408 to 27,750) thousand years in 2019. The YLD rates increased by 6.2% from 4,006 (2,098 to 6,885) years per 100,000 population to 4,253 (2,221 to 7,329) years per 100,000 population.
Regionwide, YLD rates from NCDs in children, adolescents, and young adults were consistently higher for girls than boys from 2000 to 2019. In 2019, the YLD rate was 4,721 (2,452 to 8,153) years per 100,000 population for girls and 3,802 (1,998 to 6,534) years per 100,000 population for boys.
In 2019, YLD rates varied across countries from 5,304 (3,019 to 8,602) years per 100,000 population in the United States of America to 3,360 (1,549 to 6,221) years per 100,000 population in Venezuela.
The top 20% of countries with the highest YLD rates in 2019 were the United States, Brazil, Canada, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Guyana, and Chile, with YLD rates over 3,900 years per 100,000 population, three-fold higher than Venezuela, the country with the lowest YLD rate in the region.
The five leading NCDs impacting YLD in children, adolescents, and young adults (up to 24 years of age) in the Region of the Americas in 2019 were:
- Depressive disorders,
- Anxiety disorders,
- Asthma,
- Drug use disorders, and
- Migraine.
Disability-adjusted life years (DALY)
DALY is a time-based summary measure of the burden of disease in the population. It equals the sum of years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) and years lived with disabilities (YLDs).
The level and trends of DALYs in children, adolescents, and young adults in the Region of the Americas are driven by YLDs.
In the Region of the Americas, the absolute number of DALYs from NCDs in people up to 24 years of age increased from 27,627 (95% UI: 13,038 to 42,216) thousand years in 2000 to 25,562 (11,096 to 40,027) thousand years in 2019. The rate of DALY declined by 8.1% from 7,345 (3,466 to 11,224) years per 100,000 population in 2000 to 6,751 (2,930 to 10,571) years per 100,000 population in 2019.
Regionwide, rates of DALYs from NCDs in children, adolescents, and young adults were consistently slightly, but not significantly higher for girls compared to boys from 2000 to 2019. In 2019, the DALY rate was 6,877 (2,785 to 10,970) years per 100,000 population for girls and 6,629 (3,071 to 10,187) years per 100,000 population for boys.
In 2019, DALY rates varied across countries from 9,521 (3,620 to 15,423) years per 100,000 population in Haiti to 5,308 (1,872 to 8,744) years per 100,000 population in Cuba.
The top 20% of countries with the highest DALY rates in 2019 were Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Paraguay, Brazil, Guatemala, and the United States of America, with DALY rates over 7,000 years per 100,000 population.
The five leading specific NCDs impacting DALY in children, adolescents, and young adults (up to 24 years of age) in the Region of the Americas in 2019 were:
- Congenital anomalies,
- Drug use disorders,
- Depressive disorders,
- Anxiety disorders, and
- Asthma.
Regionwide, while rates of DALY from most causes decreased from 2000 to 2019, rates of DALY due to drug use disorders increased by 89% in that period. This time trend pattern is driven by the significant increase in DALY rates due to drug use disorders in some countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, and Brazil.
References
- Martinez R, Soliz P, Caixeta R, Ordunez P. Reflection on modern methods: years of life lost due to premature mortality-a versatile and comprehensive measure for monitoring non-communicable disease mortality. Int J Epidemiol. 2019 Aug 1;48(4):1367-1376. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyy254. PMID: 30629192; PMCID: PMC6693813.
Suggested citation
The burden of noncommunicable diseases in children, adolescents, and young adults (up to 24 years of age) in the Region of the Americas. ENLACE data portal. Pan American Health Organization. 2023 [Internet] https://www.paho.org/en/enlace/burden-ncds-children-adolescents-and-you… .
