Disease burden due to COVID-19 in Taiwan: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) with implication of Monte Carlo simulations

• Published in: Journal of infection and public health Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 884 - 892
• Main Authors: Tsai, Hsin-Chieh, Yang, Ying-Fei, Pan, Pei-Juan, Chen, Szu-Chieh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2023; The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cost of Illness; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Disability weight; Disability-Adjusted Life Years; Female; Global Health; Humans; Life Expectancy; Male; Monte Carlo Method; Monte Carlo simulation; Original; Public Health; Quality-Adjusted Life Years; SARS-CoV-2; Taiwan - epidemiology; Taiwan; Taiwan CDC; MC Simulation; Public Health; Cost of illness; GBD; Disability weight; YLD; TNIDSS; SARS-CoV-2; DW; DALYs; YLL; ICU; CECC; PCR; Monte Carlo simulation; WHO
• ISSN: 1876-0341; 1876-035X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2023.03.028

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected a large number of countries. Informing the public and decision makers of the COVID-19′s economic burdens is essential for understanding the real pandemic impact. COVID-19 premature mortality and disability impact in Taiwan was analyzed using the Taiwan National Infectious Disease Statistics System (TNIDSS) by estimating the sex/age-specific years of life lost through death (YLLs), the number of years lived with disability (YLDs), and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from January 2020 to November 2021. Taiwan recorded 1004.13 DALYs (95% CI: 1002.75–1005.61) per 100,000 population for COVID-19, with YLLs accounting for 99.5% (95% CI: 99.3%99.6%) of all DALYs, with males suffering more from the disease than females. For population aged ≥ 70 years, the disease burdens of YLDs and YLLs were 0.1% and 99.9%, respectively. Furthermore, we found that duration of disease in critical state contributed 63.9% of the variance in DALY estimations. The nationwide estimation of DALYs in Taiwan provides insights into the demographic distributions and key epidemiological parameter for DALYs. The essentiality of enforcing protective precautions when needed is also implicated. The higher YLLs percentage in DALYs also revealed the fact of high confirmed death rates in Taiwan. To reduce infection risks and disease, it is crucial to maintain moderate social distancing, border control, hygiene measures, and increase vaccine coverage levels.