Introduction:

Gastric cancer (GC) is the first cause of death by neoplasm in Colombia, with 6,451 deaths in 2020. This pathology and its chronic manifestations pose a public health challenge. The objective is to estimate the disease burden of GC in Tunja, Boyacá, from 2010 to 2019.

Materials and methods:

An exploratory ecological study was conducted using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as the unit of measurement. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) mortality databases and prevalence information from the Integrated Social Protection Information System (SISPRO) records were used. Deaths and GC cases were pooled and then adjusted to control for bias.

Results:

In 2010-2019, 34.2 DALYs were lost for every 1,000 people secondary to GC in Tunja, 30.5 were due to years lost due to premature death, and 3.72 were due to years lived with disability. DALYs due to premature death were found to exceed DALYs due to disability.

Conclusion:

The morbidity burden of GC from 2010 to 2019 for Tunja was similar to that of other cancers because of years of life lost due to premature death, so public health efforts should be made to increase early detection.

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