Sub-national landscape on the years of life lost due to COVID-19 pandemic in the major cities of Southern Philippines.

Abstract

Background: In Southern Philippines, 5 697 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the major cities from March 2020 to June 2022. The pandemic's impact, despite the relatively modest death toll, was examined by analysing the Years of Life Lost (YLL) derived from disease surveillance datasets.

Methods: The individual YLLs were calculated using the global disease burden approach applying 7% discounting rate and adjusting for sex, age-at-death, and the individual's city-location. The YLLs were then aggregated on a monthly basis. Descriptive analytics were used to characterise the dynamic nature over time of the YLLs.

Results: A total of 51 749.07 YLLs due to COVID-19 were estimated, i.e. 9.09 YLLs per death or 969.49 YLLs per 100 000 population. The monthly YLL ranged from 68.55 to 7 641.12. On average, the age-at-death is 59.68 years with males having younger age-at-death than females. Notably, the weekly COVID-19 incidences and deaths in Southern Philippines showed synchronous peaks.

Conclusion: The average age-at-death in Southern Philippines is at least 10 years younger than both international age-at-death estimates and the Philippine life expectancy. The synchronous weekly peaks may highlight distinct pandemic dynamics for a low- and middle-income country. The YLL due to COVID-19 in Southern Philippines, at a sub-national level, is comparable to some country-level estimates, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on this island region alone.