Proportional Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Due to Liver Diseases among Agricultural Workers, Brazil, 2017 to 2022

Abstract

The objective of the study was to describe the profile and calculate the Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) due to liver diseases in Brazilian agricultural workers, between 2017 and 2022. For this, we analyzed microdata available in the Mortality Information System (Sistema de Informação de Mortalidade - SIM), considering the outcome as the underlying cause of death with codes K70-K77 (ICD-10). Workers’ profile was characterized according to socio-demographic variables and the Brazilian regions, with a comparison group formed by all other Brazilian workers aged 18 to 69 who died in the same period and from the same underlying cause. Calculations of proportional mortality, YPLL rates, and YPLL rate ratios were applied. In the studied period, 15,362 deaths due to liver diseases were recorded among Brazilian agricultural workers, with an average age at death of 51.3 years (±10.7), concentrated in K70 - Alcoholic liver disease (53.8%). Higher proportional mortality was observed in men (86.2%), Brown race (61.1%), up to 49 years old (40.9%), with ≤7 years of education level (52.4%), and residents in Northeast (56.9%). The total sum of YPLL was 382,869 years among agricultural workers, with YPLL rate of 4,527 years per 100,000 workers and YPLL rate ratio 1.45 times higher than the national average. The concentration of deaths due to K70 raises concern for potential chronic exposure to alcoholic beverages. These results highlight the early causes of deaths resulting from liver diseases among agricultural workers, especially those in the Northeast region of Brazil and of Brown race.