Burden of Cesarean Section and Vaginal Delivery in Isfahan, Iran

The Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to measure, compare, and analyze the burden of various diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate and compare the burden of cesarean section (CS) and normal delivery (ND) in Isfahan during 2008 year by employing DALY. Burden of CS and ND was estimated based on information provided by hospitals located in Isfahan. The incidence of complications of both vaginal delivery and cesarean section at the time of delivery and 2, 4, 6 weeks after calculated by using hospitals files. Dismod II and STAT.10 software were used to calculate YLD, YLL and DALY of delivery and their complications. DALYs for cesarean and vaginal deliveries were estimated to be 20.70 years per 1000 deliveries and 8.89 years per 1000 with their complications, respectively. DALY from cesarean section was 23.404 years per 1000 deliveries in private hospitals and 15.67 years per 1000 deliveries for governmental hospitals. DALY from vaginal delivery was 8.98 in private hospitals and 8.137 years in governmental hospitals per 1000 deliveries. This study showed a considerable burden for cesarean section particularly in private hospitals. This important finding should be considered by health policy makers in Iran.