Premature mortality profiles and inequality gaps in two Southern Cone countries: Argentina and Chile
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/z6bb0540Keywords:
premature mortality, inequalities, years of potential life lostAbstract
Introduction: Inequalities in human development have been linked to disparities in life expectancy and indicators such as Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL), demonstrating how social determinants influence health outcomes. Objective: To identify premature mortality profiles through YPLL by cause and to analyze inequality gaps across the provinces of Argentina and the regions of Chile in the years 2005, 2009, and 2018. Methods: An ecological study was conducted, analyzing 24 geographic units in Argentina and 16 in Chile over three time points: 2005, 2009, and 2018. Official reports from the national Ministries of Health were used as data sources. Differences in YPLL between the extreme years of the period were compared for each Human Development Index (HDI) tercile using paired mean difference tests. Inequality gaps were calculated using the province/region with the highest HDI in each country as the reference value. Results: Argentina shows higher HDI values and greater YPLL due to infectious diseases, while Chile reports higher YPLL from circulatory diseases and tumors. In both countries, an increase in the gap in premature mortality from external causes was observed, with a heavier burden as HDI decreases. Other YPLL causes display distinct patterns between the two countries. Conclusion: These findings suggest that both countries are simultaneously facing diseases characteristic of pre- and post-epidemiological transition phases, with internal territorial variations.
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