Population vulnerability to COVID-19 inEurope: a burden of disease analysis

Abstract

Evidence has emerged showing that elderly people and those with pre-existing chronic healthconditions may be at higher risk of developing severe health consequences from COVID-19. In Europe, this is ofparticular relevance with ageing populations living with non-communicable diseases, multi-morbidity and frailty.Published estimates of Years Lived with Disability (YLD) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study help tocharacterise the extent of these effects. Our aim was to identify the countries across Europe that have populationsat highest risk from COVID-19 by using estimates of population age structure and YLD for health conditions linkedto severe illness from COVID-19.