Potential gains in life expectancy free of disability: a tool for health planning.

This paper describes a method for ranking pathological causes according to both mortality and disability. This method consists of measuring the theoretical gain which could be obtained on life expectancy free of disability by eliminating deaths and disabilities resulting from the considered cause. An application to United States mortality and disability data is then given as an illustration. Using the proposed method, chronic conditions of the locomotor system appear as the second in order of importance, after cardiovascular diseases. Respiratory diseases, which have consequences for both mortality and disability, rank third among health problems whereas malignant neoplasms rank fourth because of their relatively small effect in terms of disability. The application of this method by planning agencies, could contribute to better allocation of resources among various intervention programmes or various research programmes which health administrations may decide to support.