Total burden of disease from household and ambient air pollution

Burden of disease attributed to air pollution (number) is defined as the absolute number of deaths (or DALYs) attributed to air pollution. The disease burden attributed to air pollution is expressed in terms of deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) as: mean raw figures and age-standardized rates and its 95% confidence intervals.

Epidemiological evidence has shown that the exposure to air pollution is associated several diseases, those with the strongest evidence are considered in these estimates, i.e.:

• Lower respiratory infections in general population;
• Strokes in adults (25 years and over);
• Ischaemic heart diseases in adults (25 years and over);
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in adults (25 years and over); and
• Lung cancers in adults (25 years and over).

Deaths and DALYs are calculated through comparative risk assessment methods that estimate the reduction in disease that would occur if exposures were reduced to an alternative baseline level that has a minimum risk, assuming all other conditions remain unchanged. The age-standardized rates adjust for differences in population age distribution by applying the observed age-specific rates for each population to a standard population. These rates can therefore be used to compare the health burdens between countries without being affected by the differences in age distribution from country to country.