posted on 2023-08-30, 20:10authored bySeungji Kang, Seuhyun Eum, Yoonkyung Chang, Ai Koyanagi, Louis Jacob, Lee Smith, Jae Il Shin, Tae-Jin Song
Objectives: The burden of neurological disorders is
increasing worldwide, including Asia. The purpose of
this study was to determine the burden of neurological
disorders between 1990 and 2019 in Asia using the Global
Burden of Disease (GBD) Sociodemographic Index.
Design, setting, outcome and participants The GBD
Study is updated every year and the most recent version
provides the burden of diseases according to age, gender
and region from 1990 to 2019. The burden of neurological
disorders was evaluated as incidence, prevalence,
mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), years of life
lost and years lived with disability.
Results: In 2019, DALYs of neurological diseases
were 64.4 million in South-East Asia (95% uncertainty
interval (UI) 45.2 to 94.2) and 85.0 million in Western
Pacific regions (95% UI 63.0 to 118.5). Stroke, migraine,
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias had the highest
DALYs in the WHO South- East Asia and WHO Western
Pacific regions in 2019. DALYs of stroke, Alzheimer’s
disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease, brain
and central nervous system cancer, multiple sclerosis,
migraine and tension-type headache increased in both
regions in 2019 compared with 1990. Infectious diseases
such as tetanus, meningitis and encephalitis decreased
in both regions. DALYs of idiopathic epilepsy and motor
neuron disease increased in the WHO South-East Asia
region and decreased in the WHO Western Pacific region.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated the burden of
neurological diseases in Asia. To reduce the burden
of neurological diseases, strategies suitable for each
country’s real healthcare needs and challenges are
needed; this study can serve as the cornerstone of these
strategies.