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GBD Data

The GBD Study (http://www.healthdata.org/gbd) is the most comprehensive worldwide observational epidemiological study to date. It describes mortality and morbidity from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors to health at global, national, and regional levels. Examining trends from 1990 to the present and making comparisons across populations enable us to understand the changing health challenges faced by people across the world in the 21st century. The GBD 2019 is the latest publicly available dataset.¹-⁵  The GBD Brazil network has been collaborating with the IHME, which leads the project in the world, in the identification and provision of datasets, revision of models and estimates, and validation and publication of the results for Brazil. ⁶,⁷ Details on how the estimates are calculated can be obtained in the capstone papers of the GBD Study and in the IHME website (http://www.healthdata.org/acting-data/what-we-measure-and-why). We summarize below the main estimates used in this document:

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  1. Estimates of deaths and causes of deaths. The main source of information is the SIM, a database from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, adjusted to other national and international sources. The IHME used methods for correcting for underreporting of deaths and “garbage codes” deaths according to previously published algorithms,⁸ updated in the newer versions of the study (http://www.healthdata.org/acting-data/determining-causes-death-how-we-reclassify-miscoded-deaths).

  2. The YLLs are years lost due to premature mortality. The YLLs are calculated by subtracting the age at death from the longest possible life expectancy for a person at that age. For example, if the longest life expectancy for men in a given country is 75 years, and a man dies of cancer at 65, this would be 10 years of life lost due to cancer.

  3. The YLDs can also be described as years lived in less-than-ideal health. This includes conditions such as influenza, which may last for only a few days, or epilepsy, which can last a lifetime. It is measured by taking the prevalence of the condition multiplied by the disability weight for that condition. Disability weights reflect the severity of different conditions and are developed through surveys with the general population.

  4. The DALY is a universal metric that allows researchers and policymakers to compare very different populations and health conditions across time. The DALYs equal the sum of YLLs and YLDs. One DALY equals one lost year of healthy life. The DALYs allow us to estimate the total number of years lost due to specific causes and risk factors at the country, regional, and global levels.

 

References

 

1. Roth GA, Mensah GA, Johnson CO, Addolorato G, Ammirati E, Baddour LM, Barengo NC, Beaton AZ, Benjamin EJ, Benziger CP, Bonny A, Brauer M, Brodmann M, Cahill TJ, Carapetis J, Catapano AL, Chugh SS, Cooper LT, Coresh J, Criqui M, DeCleene N, Eagle KA, Emmons-Bell S, Feigin VL, Fernández-Solà J, Fowkes G, Gakidou E, Grundy SM, He FJ, Howard G, Hu F, Inker L, Karthikeyan G, Kassebaum N, Koroshetz W, Lavie C, Lloyd-Jones D, Lu HS, Mirijello A, Temesgen AM, Mokdad A, Moran AE, Muntner P, Narula J, Neal B, Ntsekhe M, Moraes de Oliveira G, Otto C, Owolabi M, Pratt M, Rajagopalan S, Reitsma M, Ribeiro ALP, Rigotti N, Rodgers A, Sable C, Shakil S, Sliwa-Hahnle K, Stark B, Sundström J, Timpel P, Tleyjeh IM, Valgimigli M, Vos T, Whelton PK, Yacoub M, Zuhlke L, Murray C, Fuster V; GBD-NHLBI-JACC Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Writing Group. Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990-2019: Update From the GBD 2019 Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;76(25):2982-3021. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.010.

 

2. GBD 2019 Viewpoint Collaborators. Five Insights From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1135-59. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31404-5.

 

3. GBD 2019 Demographics Collaborators. Global Age-Sex-Specific Fertility, Mortality, Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE), and Population Estimates in 204 Countries and Territories, 1950-2019: A Comprehensive Demographic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1160-203. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30977-6.

 

4. GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators. Global Burden of 369 Diseases and Injuries in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990-2019: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1204-22. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30925-9.

 

5. GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global Burden of 87 Risk Factors in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990-2019: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1223-49. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30752-2.

 

6. França EB, Passos VMA, Malta DC, Duncan BB, Ribeiro ALP, Guimarães MDC, Abreu DMX, Vasconcelos AMN, Carneiro M, Teixeira R, Camargos P, Melo APS, Queiroz BL, Schmidt MI, Ishitani L, Ladeira RM, Morais-Neto OL, Bustamante-Teixeira MT, Guerra MR, Bensenor I, Lotufo P, Mooney M, Naghavi M. Cause-Specific Mortality for 249 Causes in Brazil and States During 1990-2015: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Popul Health Metr. 2017;15(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12963-017-0156-y.

 

7. GBD 2016 Brazil Collaborators. Burden of Disease in Brazil, 1990-2016: A Systematic Subnational Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet. 2018;392(10149):760-75. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31221-2.

 

8. Naghavi M, Makela S, Foreman K, O'Brien J, Pourmalek F, Lozano R. Algorithms for Enhancing Public Health Utility of National Causes-of-Death Data. Popul Health Metr. 2010;8:9. doi: 10.1186/1478-7954-8-9.

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