Table 2 10 leading risk factors for the European region, exposure variables, theoretical minima, and contributions to total disease burden in the European region (source: Table 1 and Figure 1 in Ezzati et al. 1). See Table 1 in Ezzati et al. 1 for disease outcomes and data sources.
Risk Factor | Exposure Variable | Theoretical Minimum | Contribution to European disease burden (%GBD) |
|---|---|---|---|
High blood pressure | Level of systolic blood pressure | 115 SD 6 mmHg | 12.8% |
Tobacco | Current levels of smoking impact ratio (indirect indicator of accumulated smoking risk based on excess lung cancer mortality); oral tobacco use prevalence | No tobacco use | 12.3% |
Alcohol | Current alcohol consumption volumes and patterns | No alcohol use b | 10.1% |
High cholesterol | Level of total blood cholesterol | 3.8 SD 1 mmol/l (147 SD 39 mg/dl) | 8.7% |
High body mass index (BMI) | Body mass index, BMI (height over weight squared) | 21 SD 1 kg/m2 | 7.8% |
Low fruit and vegetable intake | Fruit and vegetable intake per day | 600 g (SD 50 g) intake per day for adults | 4.4% |
Physical inactivity | Three categories of inactive, insufficiently active (<2.5 hours per week of moderate-intensity activity, or less than 4000 KJ/week), and sufficiently active. Activity in discretionary-time, work, and transport considered | All having at least 2.5 hours per week of moderate-intensity activity or equivalent (400 KJ/week) | 3.5% |
Illicit drugs | Use of amphetamine, cocaine, heroin or other opioids and intravenous drug use | No illicit drug use | 1.6% |
Lead | Current blood lead levels | 0.016 μg/dl blood lead levels c | 0.8% |
Unsafe sex | Sex with an infected partner without any measures to prevent infection (represented as parameters of an HIV model) | No unsafe sex | 0.7% |