Disease Burden Measures: a Review

Understanding disease burden is necessary to optimally distribute resources, direct research efforts, and prioritize healthcare interventions. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study was established in 1990 with the goal of providing accurate, transparent data for all diseases across the globe. In order to measure disease burden, this study employs disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), a metric which incorporates mortality and burden of living with a disease into a single unit. This open access database includes data from 2010 covering 291 conditions, 1160 sequelae, and 67 risk factors across 187 countries, allowing a comprehensive assessment of the world’s health as a whole and evaluation of potential regional differences in disease burden. Overall, GBD 2010 demonstrated that skin conditions rank fourth in terms of non-fatal disease burden. Additionally, 8 skin disorders rank in the top 50 most prevalent diseases worldwide. This resource highlights the importance of skin disease internationally and serves as an important resource for further refining our understanding the role of cutaneous disorders in across diverse societal, cultural, and environmental contexts.