Health Determinants and Burden of Disease – Team Agardh

People who grow up and live in disadvantaged conditions have poorer health and shorter life expectancy. The aim of our research is to identify socioeconomic, physical, environmental, and behavioral determinants that contributes to inequalities in health. The group is strongly connected to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), USA, and contributes to analyses on social determinants for disease burden.

Part of the:

Research projects

The Swedish Burden of Disease Dataset

About the research

The specific research projects utilize register data from a Swedish Burden of Disease dataset in collaboration with research partners in Sweden and abroad. We apply methods from social epidemiology, health economy, geography, and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project, to investigate and monitor socioeconomic, regional, and small-area inequalities in health.

The results of our research can generate opportunities for informed policy-making to improve population health. 

Our projects are currently funded by Forte, Försäkringskassan and Pfizer.

Publications

Funding

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Research problem and specific questions While Europe is one of the regions with the highest alcohol consumption in the world, there are major differences in alcohol use and alcohol related harm between European countries. Previous comparative studies have analyzed variations to understand importance of alcohol policies. However, major changes in policies and drinking habits have occurred in recent years, and there are also new methods for analyzing both policy, consumption and disease burden. Thus an updated study on alcohol policy, alcohol consumption and alcohol related harm, using improved methods is needed.Data and methodWe will use a scale for assessing alcohol policy in countries, developed by Finnish researchers and recently updated. Consumption data as well as data on burden of disease will be extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database for all EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and UK. Data will be analyzed for the period 1990-2020. Burden of alcohol related harm will be assessed by using data on alcohol related mortality as well DALYs (Disability adjusted life years). The data in the GBD system ensures comparability over time as well as between countries.Plan for project realisationThe core team consists of senior researchers from Sweden, Finland, Netherlands and Italy, with experience from GBD studies, and similar comparative studies. One FTE will be hired to collect data on alcohol policy from the different countries according to a specific protocol. The NORDAN and EUROCARE networks will be helpful in finding and translating information on alcohol policy. One FTE will be hired to extract data from the GBD database on alcohol consumption and alcohol related harm in the different countries. Timelines will be constructed to relate policy to consumption and level of harm in different countries.RelevanceComparison of alcohol policy and level of consumption, in relation to alcohol related harm, has been important in understanding drivers of alcohol problems and alcohol related harm, since randomised controlled studies are not possible. Major changes have occurred in European countries in recent years, so findings from previous comparative studies need to be updated. The combination of the alcohol policy scale with alcohol related harm based on GBD data has not been performed in previous comparative studies. Close contact will be held with stakeholders and end users of alcohol policy information in Sweden and Europe.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2022

Staff and contact

Team leader

All members of the group

Keywords:
Epidemiology Global Burden of Disease Health Equity Psychiatry Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Content reviewer:
Emilie Agardh
23-10-2025