Using YPLL in health planning

Objective. The measurement of years of potential life lost before age 65 (Y PLL) is one of the Health Outcome indicators defined by the state oi Florid a to measure progress toward Healthy People 2000 objectives, The authors de scribe the outcomes of their work with county health agencies to encourage use of the YPLL statistic. Methods. Calculations of the 1993 YPLL rates for Florida counties with popu lations greater than 50,000 and of inter-county variability in YPLL rates w ere used to train county health agencies in the use of YPLL. Results. Sixty-eight percent of all years of potential life lost in Florida in 1993 were attributed to 10 causes. While the total YPLL rates ranged fr om 3500 per 100,000 to 7000 per 100,000 across Florida counties, the leadin g causes differed substantially across counties. The YPLL measure was found to be useful in helping county health agencies plan programs to reduce pre mature mortality. Conclusions. Federal, state, and county health units can use YPLL rates to help guide activities toward Healthy People 2000 and to help identify new h ealth problems that require forming new community alliances, but staff memb ers must be trained to use the YPLL statistic appropriately. Causes that va ry little across counties enable the implementation of statewide prevention approaches while causes that differ greatly by county will require locally designed interventions.