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Years Lived with Disability

  1. Key messages
  2. Years Lived with Disability
  3. Read more

All estimates can be consulted in more detail in our interactive online applications:
Estimates of mortality and years of life lost for 131 causes of death
Estimates of the non-fatal burden of 56 cancer types
Estimates of the burden of 38 key diseases

1. Key messages

  • In 2021, the considered 38 key diseases led to a loss of 1.1 million healthy life years due to a reduced quality of life as a result of living with a disability.
  • Mental and substance use disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurological disorders were the leading causes of disease burden due to reduced quality of life in Belgium.
  • The total disease burden in 2021 due to reduced quality of life was similar among men and women.
  • The largest share of the disease burden due to reduced quality of life in 2021 was borne by youngsters and adults between 15 and 44 years old.
  • The total disease burden due to reduced quality of life was the highest in the Walloon Region, followed by the Brussels Capital Region, and the Flemish Region.
  • Among EU-14 countries, Belgium ranks 2nd worst in terms of disease burden due to reduced quality of life.

2. Years Lived with Disability

Belgium loses 1.1 million healthy life years in 2021

In 2021, the considered 38 key diseases led to a loss of 1,146,988 healthy life years (9,930 YLDs per 100,000) due to reduced quality of life (YLDs). Mental and substance use disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurological disorders were the leading disease groups, accounting for more than 70% of the total disease burden due to reduced quality of life. The top 5 specific causes for YLDs were depression (16%), low back pain (13%), alcohol use disorders (11%), neck pain (8%) and drug use disorders (8%).

Distribution of Years Lived with Disability by disease, Belgium, 2021
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

Men suffer a similar disease burden due to reduced quality of life compared to women. The age-adjusted YLDs equaled 9,831 per 100,000 men, and 9,904 per 100,000 women. In men, the three leading causes for YLDs were alcohol use (1,516 YLDs per 100,000), depression (1,326 YLDs per 100,000), and low back pain (1,202 YLDs per 100,000) whereas in women, the three leading specific causes were depression (1,789 YLDs per 100,000), low back pain (1,247 YLDs per 100,000), and neck pain (1,183 YLDs per 100,000).

Distribution of age-adjusted YLD rates by sex and disease group, Belgium, 2021
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

In Belgium, the disease burden due to reduced quality of life is largely borne by the youngsters and adults. The majority (33%) of YLDs in the Belgian population are attributable to Belgians with an age between 15 and 44 years (52,515 YLDs per 100,000), followed by the group with an age between 45 and 64 years, where a total of 47,934 YLDs per 100,000, (33%) were lost in 2021. Among Belgians who are between 65 and 84 years old, 64,863 years were lost due to reduced quality of life per 100,000 (28%). The oldest group (85 years and older) accounted for 6% of the total amount of YLDs, while the youngest group (< 15 years) accounted for 1% of the total amount of YLDs. The leading specific causes with the highest impact in terms of YLDs per 100,000 were asthma and epilepsy in children with an age < 5 year, epilepsy and asthma in children aged between 5 to 14 years, depression and alcohol use disorders in youngsters and adults with an age between 15 to 44 year, depression and low back pain in adults with an age between 45 and 84, and low back pain and osteoarthritis in elderly with an age of 65 years and older.

Distribution of YLD rates by age and disease group, Belgium, 2021
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

The Walloon and Brussels Capital Regions have the highest burden

After correcting for differences in population size and age structure, the disease burden in terms of reduced quality of life is the highest in the Walloon Region (11,724 YLDs per 100,000), followed by the Brussels Capital Region (10,642 YLDs per 100,000), and the Flemish Region (8,775 YLDs per 100,000). The leading cause groups are identical among regions.

Ranking of disease groups by age-adjusted YLD rates, Belgium and regions, 2021
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

The burden remains stable over time

Looking at trends over time after correcting for the population size and age structure, the disease burden due to reduced quality of life of the leading diseases has remained stable over the years. The disease burden of mental and substance use disorders went from 4,141 YLDs per 100,000 in 2013 to 4,374 YLDs per 100,000 in 2021. The disease burden of musculoskeletal disorders went from 2,558 YLDs per 100,000 in 2013 to 2,760 YLDs per 100,000 in 2020.

Distribution of age-adjusted YLD rates by year and disease group, Belgium, 2013-2021
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

Belgium scores poorly among EU-14 countries

In 2019, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study [7] the estimated total YLDs in Belgium was above the EU-14 countries mean, ranking the country 2nd worst among the EU-14.

Age-adjusted YLD rate per 100,000, by country of residence (EU-14), 2019
Source: GBD 2019 study [7]

3. Read more

Belgian Burden of Disease visualization tool
Belgian national burden of disease study. Guidelines for the calculation of DALYs in Belgium
Download Summary Table (.xlsx) 488 KB

Background

What are the most important diseases in Belgium? Which risk factors contribute most to the overall disease burden? How is the burden of disease evolving over time, and how does it compare with neighboring countries? To address these basic questions, Sciensano conducts a national burden of disease study, in which the population impact for 38 key diseases in Belgium is evaluated.

The burden of disease in terms of reduced quality of life as a result of living with a disability is quantified using the Years Lived with Disability (YLD) metric. The YLD is a measure of the non-fatal disease burden in a specific population. YLDs are calculated by multiplying the number of prevalent cases with the (severity-weighted) disability weight, which reflects the relative reduction in quality of life lost due to living with the disease.

We calculate disease burden estimates by age, sex and region, allowing for a very detailed assessment of the state of health. The complete set of estimates can be explored via https://burden.sciensano.be/shiny/daly.

Definitions

YLD
The Years Lived with Disability or YLDs in short is a measure of the non-fatal disease burden in a specific population. YLDs are calculated by multiplying the number of prevalent cases with the (severity-weighted) disability weight, which reflects the relative reduction in quality of life lost due to living with the disease.
EU-14
The EU-14 corresponds to all countries that belonged to the European Union between 1995 and 2004: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. We compare the Belgian health status to that of the EU-14 because these countries have similar socioeconomic conditions. Note: The United Kingdom is not included since they have left the EU.

References

  1. Intermualistic Agency (IMA). https://aim-ima.be/
  2. Intego, KU Leuven. https://intego.be/
  3. Renal Database, European Renal Association (ERA). https://www.era-online.org/en/registry/
  4. Health Interview Survey (HIS), Sciensano. https://www.sciensano.be/en/projects/health-interview-survey
  5. Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR). https://kankerregister.org/
  6. Statistics Belgium (Statbel). https://statbel.fgov.be/en
  7. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Results. Seattle, United States: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2020. Available from http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.

Please cite this page as: Sciensano. Burden of disease: Years Lived with Disability, Health Status Report, 04 July 2024, Brussels, Belgium, https://www.healthybelgium.be/en/health-status/burden-of-disease/years-lived-with-disability