Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders in 204 countries and territories worldwide

Abstract

Background: We aimed to determine the incidence and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of neurological disorders worldwide from 1990 to 2019.

Methods: We obtained age-standardised incidence and DALY rates of neurological disorders in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database. We determined trends stratified by age, sex, region, country, and Social Development Index (SDI) and the risk factors contributing to DALYs associated with these neurological disorders.

Results: The largest increases in the age-standardised incidence rates of neurological disorders in 1990-2019 occurred in four regions (East Asia: estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) = 0.19, tropical Latin America: EAPC = 0.07, Southern Latin America: EAPC = 0.03, Western Europe: EAPC = 0.03) and three countries (China: EAPC = 0.20, Ecuador: EAPC = 0.13, Italy: EAPC = 0.13). We observed the largest increases in age-standardised incidence rates for Parkinson disease, idiopathic epilepsy, and bipolar disorder, and in age-standardised DALY rates for Alzheimer disease and other dementias. High-SDI regions showed the highest EAPC for age-standardised incidence rates of Parkinson disease, depression, and motor neuron disease, and age-standardised DALY rates of neurological disorders.

Conclusions: There is a need to control the increase in age-standardised incidence rates of neurological disorders in East Asia, tropical Latin America, Southern Latin America, and Western Europe, particularly in China, Ecuador, and Italy.