New Delhi: Even as people across India are living longer, they are spending more time in ill health as rates of nonfatal diseases and injuries including major depressive disorder, iron-deficiency anemia, and low back pain decline more slowly than death rates, says a new study on years lived with disabilities (YLDs), According to a new study.
The study titled Global Burden of Disease-2013 is an analysis of more than 300 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in around 188 countries. The study examines the extent, pattern, and trends of nonfatal health loss across countries.
Published in The Lancet, the study was conducted by an international consortium of researchers working on the Global Burden of Disease project and led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
The study states that years lived with disability (YLDs) quantifies the impact of health problems that impair mobility, hearing, or vision, or cause pain in some way.
For women in India, other musculoskeletal disorders that include shoulder injuries and fractures from osteoporosis and diabetes have replaced diarrheal diseases and uncorrected refractive error that causes vision problems as leading causes of YLDs.
For Indian men, too, diabetes YLDs increased between 1990 and 2013, climbing 136%. YLDs from COPD increased by 76%, whereas iron-deficiency anemia YLDs decreased by 32%. The health of Indians is increasingly threatened by depression, back pain, and migraines,” said Dr Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director – George Institute for Global Health, India and study co-author.
According to the study, musculoskeletal disorders, mental and substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and chronic respiratory conditions were the main drivers of YLDs in 2013. Notably, the disease burdens of both low back pain and depression have increased more than 50% since 1990.
The number of people who suffered from ten or more ailments increased by 52%. But it’s not just the elderly who are affected. Although the impact of YLDs increases with age, of the 2.3 billion people who suffered from more than five ailments, 81% of them were younger than 65 years old.
And, just eight causes of chronic diseases – affecting people for three months or longer – impacted more than 10% of the world’s population. These included tension-type headaches and iron-deficiency anemia.
“What ails you isn’t necessarily what kills you,” said IHME Director Dr Christopher Murray. “As nonfatal illnesses and related ailments affect more people of all ages, countries must look closely at health policy and spending to target these conditions,” he said.
Bureau Report
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