Assessing the asthma-related burden of disease in Latin American and Caribbean countries: a sociodemographic perspective

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to characterize the burden of asthma-related issues in Latin American and Caribbean countries from 1990 to 2019 and to assess their relationship with the sociodemographic index (SDI). Study designA cross-sectional analysis with an ecological approach was conducted. MethodsThe disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and the SDI data were obtained from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationship of interest. ResultsDuring the study period, a total of 41.7 million DALYs were accounted, with the highest rates observed in children aged under 5 years (651, uncertainty interval [UI]: 369 to 1037 per 100,000) and females (342, UI: 241 to 471 per 100,000). In the multiple regression model based on data from 2019, a significant negative association was observed between the log-transformed DALY rates and the SDI. Specifically, for each unit increase in the SDI, asthma-related DALY rates decreased by an average of 0.97 % (95 % confidence interval: 0.48–1.00 %). ConclusionsThis study highlights heterogeneous age, gender, and country-related variations in asthma rates across Latin American and Caribbean countries and emphasizes the influence of sociodemographic factors on its burden.