The global burden of injury: incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years and time trends from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013
Authors: Haagsma Juanita A , Graetz Nicholas , Bolliger Ian , Naghavi Mohsen , Higashi Hideki , Mullany Erin C , Abera Semaw Ferede , Abraham Jerry Puthenpurakal , Adofo Koranteng , Alsharif Ubai , Ameh Emmanuel A , Ammar Walid , Antonio Carl Abelardo T , Barrero Lope H , Bekele Tolesa , Bose Dipan , Brazinova Alexandra , Catalá-López Ferrán , Dandona Lalit , Dandona Rakhi , Dargan Paul I , De Leo Diego , Degenhardt Louisa , Derrett Sarah , Dharmaratne Samath D , Driscoll Tim R , Duan Leilei , Petrovich Ermakov Sergey , Farzadfar Farshad , Feigin Valery L , Franklin Richard C , Gabbe Belinda , Gosselin Richard A , Hafezi-Nejad Nima , Hamadeh Randah Ribhi , Hijar Martha , Hu Guoqing , Jayaraman Sudha P , Jiang Guohong , Khader Yousef Saleh , Khan Ejaz Ahmad , Krishnaswami Sanjay , Kulkarni Chanda , Lecky Fiona E , Leung Ricky , Lunevicius Raimundas , Lyons Ronan Anthony , Majdan Marek , Mason-Jones Amanda J , Matzopoulos Richard , Meaney Peter A , Mekonnen Wubegzier , Miller Ted R , Mock Charles N , Norman Rosana E , Orozco Ricardo , Polinder Suzanne , Pourmalek Farshad , Rahimi-Movaghar Vafa , Refaat Amany , Rojas-Rueda David , Roy Nobhojit , Schwebel David C , Shaheen Amira , Shahraz Saeid , Skirbekk Vegard , Søreide Kjetil , Soshnikov Sergey , Stein Dan J , Sykes Bryan L , Tabb Karen M , Temesgen Awoke Misganaw , Tenkorang Eric Yeboah , Theadom Alice M , Tran Bach Xuan , Vasankari Tommi J , Vavilala Monica S , Vlassov Vasiliy Victorovich , Woldeyohannes Solomon Meseret , Yip Paul , Yonemoto Naohiro , Younis Mustafa Z , Yu Chuanhua , Murray Christopher J L , Vos Theo , Balalla Shivanthi , Phillips Michael R 
Published: December 2015

Background

The Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), Injuries, and Risk Factors study used the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) to quantify the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. This paper provides an overview of injury estimates from the 2013 update of GBD, with detailed information on incidence, mortality, DALYs and rates of change from 1990 to 2013 for 26 causes of injury, globally, by region and by country.

Methods

Injury mortality was estimated using the extensive GBD mortality database, corrections for ill-defined cause of death and the cause of death ensemble modelling tool. Morbidity estimation was based on inpatient and outpatient data sets, 26 cause-of-injury and 47 nature-of-injury categories, and seven follow-up studies with patient-reported long-term outcome measures.

Results

In 2013, 973 million (uncertainty interval (UI) 942 to 993) people sustained injuries that warranted some type of healthcare and 4.8 million (UI 4.5 to 5.1) people died from injuries. Between 1990 and 2013 the global age-standardised injury DALY rate decreased by 31% (UI 26% to 35%). The rate of decline in DALY rates was significant for 22 cause-of-injury categories, including all the major injuries.

Conclusions

Injuries continue to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed and developing world. The decline in rates for almost all injuries is so prominent that it warrants a general statement that the world is becoming a safer place to live in. However, the patterns vary widely by cause, age, sex, region and time and there are still large improvements that need to be made.