RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Impact of tobacco use on health and work productivity in Malaysia
JF Tobacco Control
JO Tob Control
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 111
OP 117
DO 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054677
VO 29
IS 1
A1 Qian Ying Tan
A1 Ella Zomer
A1 Alice J Owen
A1 Ken Lee Chin
A1 Danny Liew
YR 2020
UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/29/1/111.abstract
AB Background The loss of productivity arising from tobacco use in low/middle-income countries has not been well described. We sought to examine the impact of cigarette smoking on population health and work productivity in Malaysia using a recently published measure, the productivity-adjusted life year (PALY).Methods A life table model was constructed using published Malaysian demographic and mortality data. Our analysis was limited to male smokers due to the low smoking prevalence in females (1.1%). Male smokers aged 15–64 years were followed up until 65 years or until death. The population attributable risk, health-related quality of life decrements and relative reduction in productivity due to smoking were sourced from published data. The analysis was repeated assuming the cohorts were never smokers, and the differences in outcomes represented the health and productivity burden conferred by smoking. The cost of productivity loss was estimated based on the gross domestic product per equivalent full-time worker in Malaysia.Results Tobacco use is highly prevalent among working-age males in Malaysia, with 4.2 million (37.5%) daily smokers among men aged between 15 and 64 years. Overall, our model estimated that smoking resulted in the loss of over 2.1 million life years (2.9%), 5.5 million (8.2%) quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and 3.0 million (4.8%) PALYs. Smoking was estimated to incur RM275.3 billion (US$69.4 billion) in loss of productivity.Conclusion Tobacco use imposes a significant public health and economic burden among working-age males in Malaysia. This study highlights the need of effective public health interventions to reduce tobacco use.