Estimating the Contributions of Lifestyle-Related Factors to Preventable Death

This report summarises workshop presentations and discussions from a United States IOM workshop held December 13-14 2004. The workshop aimed to estimate the contributions of lifestyle-related factors to preventable death, and sought specifically to address these questions:

• What are the best available methods for estimating the number of preventable deaths among the leading causes of death in the United States?
• Can scientists estimate the relative contribution of lifestyle-related factors as causes of preventable deaths with an acceptable level of accuracy?
• What are the best measures of the public health burden of these preventable deaths: the number of preventable deaths, years of life lost, reduction in quality of years lived, disabilities caused by lifestyle factors, or the economic costs of death and disability?
• What types of estimates provide the most scientifically sound basis for public policies that aim to reduce preventable deaths from lifestyle-related factors?

Click here to view the complete workshop agenda.

Dr. Harvey Fineberg, President of the IOM, moderated the workshop, which included presentations from experts in statistical design, epidemiology, quality-of-life measures, communication, and public policy and discussions among the participants. Panels of experts addressed the following topics:

• methodological issues when estimating the public health burden of lifestyle factors;
• estimating "attributable risk" in practice;
• alternative ways of measuring the health burden; and
• public policy issues

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