Estimating the direct Covid-19 disability-adjusted life years impact on the Malta population for the first full year

Sarah Cuschieri, Neville Calleja, Brecht Devleesschauwer and Grant Mark Andrew Wyper

No 8gdrs, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Background Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) combine the impact of morbidity and mortality, allowing for comprehensive comparisons of the population health impact of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. The aim of this paper was to estimate the DALYs due to Covid-19 in Malta (March 2020-21) and investigate its impact in relation to other causes of disease and injury, at a population level. Methods Mortality and weekly hospital admission reported data were used to calculate the DALYs, based on the European Burden of Disease Network consensus Covid-19 model. Covid-19 infection durations of 14 days was considered. Sensitivity analyses for different morbidity scenarios, including post-acute consequences were presented. Estimates were for March 2020-21. Results An estimated 70,421 people were infected (with and without symptoms) by Covid-19 in Malta (March 2020-21), out of which 1,636 required hospitalisation and 331 deaths, contributing to 5,478 DALYs. These DALYs positioned Covid-19 as the fourth leading cause of disease and injury in Malta. Mortality contributed to 95% of DALYs, while post-acute consequences contributed to 60% of morbidity. Conclusion Covid-19 over a period of one year has impacted substantially the population health in Malta. Post-acute consequences are the leading morbidity factors that require urgent targeted action to ensure timely multidisciplinary care. It is recommended that DALY estimations in 2021 and beyond are calculated to assess the impact of vaccine roll-out and emergence of new variants on population health.

Date: 2021-06-10
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://osf.io/download/60c19a1118f70b01a0a7bed2/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:8gdrs

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/8gdrs

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in SocArXiv from Center for Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by OSF ().