Physical Rehabilitation Needs in the BRICS Nations from 1990 to 2017: Cross-National Analyses Using Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study.

Tiago S Jesus,Helen Hoenig,Olga Sokolova,Karen Grimmer,Raquel R Britto,Quinette A Louw,Yi Zeng,Michel D Landry,Sureshkumar Kamalakannan,Nana Pogosova

doi:10.3390/ijerph17114139

Abstract

Background: This study analyzes the current and evolving physical rehabilitation needs of BRICS nations (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa), a coalition of large emergent economies increasingly important for global health. Methods: Secondary, cross-national analyses of data on Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Total physical rehabilitation needs, and those stratified per major condition groups are analyzed for the year 2017 (current needs), and for every year since 1990 (evolution over time). ANOVAs are used to detect significant yearly changes. Results: Total physical rehabilitation needs have increased significantly from 1990 to 2017 in each of the BRICS nations, in every metric analyzed (YLD Counts, YLDs per 100,000 people, and percentage of YLDs relevant to physical rehabilitation; all p < 0.01). Musculoskeletal & pain conditions were leading cause of physical rehabilitation needs across the BRICS nations but to varying degrees: from 36% in South Africa to 60% in Brazil. Country-specific trends include: 25% of South African needs were from HIV-related conditions (no other BRICS nation had more than 1%); India had both absolute and relative growths of pediatric rehabilitation needs (p < 0.01); China had an exponential growth in the per-capita needs from neurological and neoplastic conditions (p < 0.01; r2 = 0.97); Brazil had a both absolute and relative growth of needs coming from musculoskeletal & pain conditions (p < 0.01); and the Russian Federation had the highest neurological rehabilitation needs per capita in 2017 (over than three times those of India, South Africa or Brazil). Conclusions: total physical rehabilitation needs have been increasing in each of the BRICS nations, both in absolute and relative values. Apart from the common growing trend, each of the BRICS nations had own patterns for the amount, typology, and evolution of their physical rehabilitation needs, which must be taken into account while planning for health and physical rehabilitation programs, policies and resources.

Highlights

The BRICS countries (i.e., Brazil, Russian Federation–called Russia hereafter, India, China, SouthAfrica) are increasingly recognized as important players in global health and development [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].Traditionally, the G7 steered major health initiatives globally, through policies, priorities and developmental aid to support and improve health in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) [1]
Global health attention has been turning to the strategic role of emerging economies, especially the BRICS nations
Apart from common trends across the BRICS nations, we found important country-specific differences across the BRICS countries in the amount, typology, and evolution of their physical rehabilitation needs

Summary

Introduction

The BRICS countries (i.e., Brazil, Russian Federation–called Russia hereafter, India, China, SouthAfrica) are increasingly recognized as important players in global health and development [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].Traditionally, the G7 (the group of the seven most powerful world economies) steered major health initiatives globally, through policies, priorities and developmental aid to support and improve health in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) [1]. Global health attention has been turning to the strategic role of emerging economies, especially the BRICS nations. Through strategic cooperation and inter-BRICS policies, the BRICS nations increasingly seek to translate their economic growths into improved population health [7,10,11]. Their health ministries have been met annually to discuss synergies, priorities and innovations tailored to their resource-constrained settings [7,10]. This study analyzes the current and evolving physical rehabilitation needs of BRICS nations (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa), a coalition of large emergent economies increasingly important for global health.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion