Years of Potential Life Lost Rate by ZIP Code

New York Finger Lakes Region (2006-2015)

There are large disparities in the rate of premature mortality across the region. In some ZIP codes, the rate of Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) is more than 50 percent greater than the region average. Notably, within the City of Rochester a majority of the population lives in ZIP codes with this much higher rate of premature mortality. As research has shown, much of the disparity in premature mortality rates is explained by racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequities.

Methodology note: Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a widely used measure to assess the rate of premature mortality. YPLL places a larger weight on the deaths of younger people, in contrast with overall mortality statistics which are dominated by deaths of the elderly. The YPLL rates in Common Ground Health analyses are derived using 75 years as the baseline. A death at age 65 has YPLL of 10, where as a death at age 35 has a YPLL of 40. The rates are calculated per 100,000 population and are age-sex adjusted to account for differences in population distribution.

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