The global burden of drug use and mental disorders

Abstract

Reports by Harvey Whiteford 1 Whiteford HA Degenhardt L Rehm J et al. Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2013; (published online Aug 29.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (3636) Google Scholar and Louisa Degenhardt 2 Degenhardt L Whiteford HA Ferrari AJ et al. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2013; (published online Aug 29.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61530-5 Google Scholar and their respective colleagues in The Lancet represent the culmination of an impressive collaborative programme of research that has estimated the global burden of disease (GBD) associated with numerous risk factors 3 Lim SS Vos T Flaxman AD et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012; 380: 2224-2260 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8277) Google Scholar and diseases. 4 Murray CJ Vos T Lozano R et al. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012; 380: 2197-2223 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6112) Google Scholar , 5 Vos T Flaxman AD Naghavi M et al. Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012; 380: 2163-2196 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (5305) Google Scholar The importance of this project in guiding policy cannot be overestimated. The major findings to emerge from the present reports are that mental and substance use disorders (including alcohol and other drug use disorders) accounted for an estimated 7·4% (95% uncertainty interval 6·2–8·6) of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 22·9% (18·6–27·2) of years lived with disability (YLDs) worldwide in 2010. Degenhardt and colleagues 2 Degenhardt L Whiteford HA Ferrari AJ et al. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2013; (published online Aug 29.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61530-5 Google Scholar report that, despite relatively low global prevalence of illicit drug use disorders, these conditions make substantial contributions to global mortality and morbidity, accounting for 0·8% (0·6–1·0) of global all-cause DALYs in 2010. Mental and substance use disorders were directly responsible for 0·5% (0·4–0·7) of years of life lost (YLLs), with more than 80% of these deaths attributable to drug use disorders. Lower estimates of YLLs (relative to estimates of DALYs) occurred because most excess deaths in individuals with a mental disorder were coded to the direct physical cause of death rather than to the disorders themselves. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010Illicit drug use is an important contributor to the global burden of disease. Efficient strategies to reduce disease burden of opioid dependence and injecting drug use, such as delivery of opioid substitution treatment and needle and syringe programmes, are needed to reduce this burden at a population scale. Full-Text PDF Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010Despite the apparently small contribution of YLLs—with deaths in people with mental disorders coded to the physical cause of death and suicide coded to the category of injuries under self-harm—our findings show the striking and growing challenge that these disorders pose for health systems in developed and developing regions. In view of the magnitude of their contribution, improvement in population health is only possible if countries make the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders a public health priority. Full-Text PDF