Researchers estimated global, regional, and national health loss due to 37 nervous system conditions and their associated risk factors from 1990 to 2021.
By Vijay Kumar MalesuMar 19 2024Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. In a recent study published in The Lancet Neurology, a group of researchers estimated global, regional, and national health loss due to 37 nervous system conditions and their associated risk factors from 1990 to 2021.
About the study The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 assessed a broad spectrum of conditions, from neurodevelopmental to those resulting from infections, capturing the extensive scope of neurological health loss across 204 countries, marking a crucial step in understanding global neurological burdens.
The study also introduced a comorbidity correction to avoid overestimating prevalence by accounting for the co-occurrence of conditions. Non-fatal burden was assessed through years lived with disability , calculated by multiplying the prevalence of each sequela by its disability weight, while deaths and years of life lost were estimated for conditions directly causing mortality.
Related StoriesNotably, newly considered neurological conditions, neurodevelopmental and pediatric conditions, along with other conditions causing neurological health loss, significantly contributed to the overall burden. Despite being the leading cause of global DALYs, the analysis revealed a 27% reduction in age-standardized DALY rates from 1990 to 2021, indicating an overall improvement in managing these conditions.