What is the formula to calculate potential life loss?

The formula for calculating potential life loss helps estimate the impact of premature death by comparing the age at which an individual passes away to a predetermined threshold age, commonly 65. This threshold often reflects the age at which many people are considered to have reached a potential full adult life span. By subtracting the age at death from this threshold, you can determine the number of years of life lost due to death before reaching this age. This approach is particularly useful in public health assessments and economic evaluations of health interventions, as it allows for a quantifiable measure of the years that individuals and society lose when someone dies prematurely.

The other choices do not effectively represent the formula for calculating potential life loss. The age at death minus a fixed age like 50 does not reflect a standard measure. The age of onset of a disease and age at first injury provide information about when health issues began rather than directly measuring the impact of death on potential life years. These alternatives do not give a clear quantitative assessment of life loss related to the age at which a person dies in comparison to a typical life expectancy.