Table 1. Population health burden associated with telomere length based on Haycock et al 2017 meta-analysis.
| OR of Disease per SD Longer gTL (95%CI) | Incidence Rate | Excess Incidence Per 1 SD Longer gTL | Total Excess Incidence (95%CI) | DALY | Excess DALY Per 1 SD Longer gTL | Total Excess DALY (95% CI) | |
| Per 100,000 Persons Age Adjusted | Per 100,000 Persons (95%CI) | Per 100,000 Persons Age Adjusted | Per 100,000 Persons (95% CI) | ||||
| Diseases Associated with Long gTL | 94.04 (45.49–168.84) | 1,255.25 (662.71–2,163.63) | |||||
| Lung Adenocarcinoma | 3.19 (2.40–4.22) | 11.56 (11.22–11.86) | 25.31 (16.18–37.22) | 222.74 (217.17–227.96) | 487.79 (311.83–717.21) | ||
| Malignant skin melanoma | 1.87 (1.55–2.26) | 11.60 (8.27–13.33) | 10.09 (6.38–14.62) | 53.25 (39.55–63.18) | 46.33 (29.29–67.10) | ||
| Endometrial cancer | 1.31 (1.07–1.61) | 6.23 (6.49–5.97) | 1.93 (0.44–3.80) | 23.82 (22.62–25.02) | 7.38 (1.67–14.53) | ||
| Ovary cancer (serous LMP) | 4.35 (2.39–7.94) | 0.04 (0.03–0.04) | 0.12 (0.05–0.25) | 0.55 (0.53–0.57) | 1.85 (0.77–3.84) | ||
| Testicular germ-cell cancer | 1.76 (1.02–3.04) | 3.05 (2.84–3.27) | 2.32 (0.06–6.22) | 8.84 (8.20–9.58) | 6.72 (0.18–18.03) | ||
| Bladder cancer | 2.19 (1.32–3.66) | 11.26 (10.84–11.64) | 13.40 (3.60–29.95) | 72.93 (70.02–75.87) | 86.79 (23.34–193.99) | ||
| Glioma | 5.27 (3.15–8.81) | 8.39 (7.29–9.30) | 35.83 (18.04–65.54) | 134.46 119.42–150.86) | 574.14 (289.09–1,050.12) | ||
| Neuroblastoma | 2.98 (1.92–4.62) | 0.012 (0.010–0.013) | 0.02 (0.01–0.04) | 0.18 (0.16–0.21) | 0.37 (0.17–0.67) | ||
| Kidney cancer | 1.55 (1.08–2.23) | 9.11 (8.39–9.48) | 5.01 (0.73–11.21) | 79.79 (74.51–82.74) | 43.88 (6.38–98.14) | ||
| OR of Disease per SD Shorter gTL (95%CI) | Incidence Rate | Excess Incidence Per 1 SD Shorter gTL | Total Excess Incidence (95%CI) | DALY | Excess DALY Per 1 SD Shorter gTL | Total Excess DALY (95% CI) | |
| Per 100,000 Persons Age Adjusted | Per 100,000 Persons (95%CI) | Per 100,000 Persons Age Adjusted | Per 100,000 Persons (95% CI) | ||||
| Diseases Associated with Short gTL | 121.49 (48.40–228.58) | 1,007.75 (411.63–1,847.34) | |||||
| Coronary heart disease | 1.28 (1.11–1.49) | 190.81 (171.96–211.00) | 53.43 (20.99–93.50) | 2106.22 (2060.06–2167.79) | 589.74 (231.68–1,032.05) | ||
| Aortic aneurysm | 1.59 (1.23–2.04) | NA | NA | 57.09 (55.47–58.72) | 33.68 (13.13–59.37) | ||
| Alzheimer disease and other dementias | 1.19 (1.02–1.41) | 101.07 (90.31–112.58) | 19.20 (2.02–41.44) | 410.16 (382.77–438.18) | 77.93 (8.20–168.17) | ||
| Type I Diabetes Mellitus | 1.41 (1.02–1.96) | 9.59 (8.70–10.59) | 3.93 (0.19–9.21) | 62.99 (55.19–71.48) | 25.83 (1.26–60.47) | ||
| Interstitial lung disease | 11.11 (6.67–20.00) | 4.44 (4.08–4.82) | 44.93 (25.20–84.44) | 27.75 (22.96–31.78) | 280.57 (157.35–527.28) |
Odds ratios represent published calculations from a GWAS meta-analysis of associations between genetically-predicted telomere length and disease by Haycock et al., 2017. In some cases, several ORs are given for narrow disease definitions within a single DALY category. These ORs were weighted by their relative incidence or prevalence (IBD, diabetes mellitus) and collapsed into a single value per DALY. Population health burden associated with telomere length was defined as “excess” odds of disease (OR-1) associated with longer telomeres multiplied by the respective DALY. Positive values reflect excess burden associated with longer TL, and negative values reflect burden in the population that has been prevented by longer TL. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) represent data collected for persons of all ages in the United States during the years 2000–2016, as reported by the World Health Organization (2018). ICD10 codes corresponding to each DALY disease definition are presented.