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The Burden of Mental Disorders

ENLACE MENTAL DISORDERS TECHNICAL NOTES ABOUT

 

Mental disorders including depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, autism and Asperger syndrome, childhood behavioral disorders, and other mental conditions are major causes of years lived with disability in the Region of the Americas. Mental disorders are mainly non-fatal conditions and rare causes of death and/or premature death.

This page highlights the health burden caused by mental disorders, including specific mental conditions, in the population of the Americas. Using interactive data visualizations, readers can explore and compare the level and trends of mental disorders across the region, subregions and countries.

Topic content

The burden due to all mental disorders combined

The burden due to  specific  mental disorders

 

The burden due to all mental disorders combined

The data visualization presents the level, distribution, and trends over time of the years lived with less than optimal health due to mental disorders by age, sex, year, and countries of the Region of the Americas from 2000 to 2019.

Note: This is a static summary of the key findings of the burden of mental disorders at the regional level. It is intended as facts and figures at a glance for readers. 

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to depressive disorders

In the Region of the Americas:

  • DALYs due to mental disorders increased from 16.9 million years in 2000 to 20.6 million years in 2019.
  • crude DALY rate slightly decreased 0.2% from 2,043 DALYs per 100,000 population in 2000 to 2,038 DALYs per 100,000 population in 2019.
  • the age-standardized DALY rate decreased 4.5% from 2,082 years per 100,000 population in 2000 to 1,989 years per 100,000 population in 2019.
  • in 2019, age-standardized DALY rates vary across countries from 2,234.7 years per 100,000 population in the United States of America to 1,417 years per 100,000 population in Colombia.

Countries with the highest level of age-standardized DALYs per 100,000 population are:

  1. United States of America
  2. Brazil
  3. Guyana
  4. Chile
  5. Paraguay
  6. Suriname
  7. Bolivia

DATA CLASSIFICATION

In the map and bar chart, the data is presented in five discrete classes created using the quantile classification method. Each class contains 20% of countries, which is easy to interpret. The quintile classes are labeled sequentially from Quintile 1 as the first quintile including the lowest fifth (0 to 20%) of the data to Quintile 5, the fifth quintile representing the class with the highest fifth (80% to 100%) of the data.

MEASURES

Measure names:

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs)  due to all mental disorders combined.

Metric: Rate. 

Unit of Measure: deaths, DALY, YLD, and YLL per 100,000 population.

Topic: Mortality and burden of disease.

Disaggregation: Age, Sex, Country, and Year

Method of estimation: Estimates by cause, age, sex, location (countries, and the Region), and year were extracted from the WHO Global Health Estimates (GHE) 2019. These estimates represent WHO's best estimates, computed using standard categories, definitions, and methods to ensure cross-country comparability, and may not be the same as official national estimates. 

Methodological details:

Data sources and methods for estimating causes of deaths and disease burden are described in the following documents

Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates: Global, regional and subregional aggregates were computed by summing the absolute number of the measure (deaths, DALYs, YLDs, YLLs) as the numerator and summing the population estimates from the World Population Prospect, produced by the UN Population Division, as denominators for all countries included in the geographic region or subregion. Rates were computed by dividing the aggregated numerator and aggregated population and multiplying the result by 100,000 population. Age-standardized rates were computed by the direct method using the WHO World Standard Population. 

Preferred data sources: Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system with complete coverage and medical certification of cause of death, and administrative health records.

  1. WHO. WHO methods and data sources for country-level causes of death 2000-2019. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available online (accessed 1 February 2021).
  2. WHO. WHO methods and data sources for global burden of disease estimates, 2000-2019. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2020. Available online (accessed 1 February 2021).
  3. PAHO. Methodological Notes, NMH Data Portal. Pan American Health Organization. 2021.
 

The burden due to specific mental disorders

Mental disorders comprise a set of more specific disorders whose health burden varies by subregion and country depending on socio-economic factors and the performance of health systems, particularly mental health services.

The data visualization presents the level, distribution, and trends over time of the years lived with less than optimal health due to specific mental disorders - eg, depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders - by age, sex, year, and geographic areas (region, subregion, and country) of the Region of the Americas from 2000 to 2019.

Note: This is a static summary of the key findings of the burden of mental disorders at the regional level. It is intended as facts and figures at a glance for readers.

Depressive disorders

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to depressive disorders

In the Region of the Americas:

  • DALYs due to depressive disorders increased from 5.7 million years (95% uncertainty interval: 2.9 to 8.6) in 2000 to 6.9 million years (95% UI: 3.4 to 10.4) in 2019, being North America the main contributor to the increase.
  • the age-standardized DALY rate slightly decreased from 708.4 years (95% UI: 356.0 to 1060.8) per 100,000 population in 2000 to 657.7 years (95% UI: 323.8 to 991.6) per 100,000 population in 2019 informing that the increase in the absolute DALY is a consequence of the population growth and aging.

Top 20% of countries with the highest level of age-standardized DALYs per 100,000 population:

  1. Guyana: 941.5 DALYs per 100,000 population
  2. Suriname: 894.4
  3. United States of America: 800.0
  4. Trinidad and Tobago: 715.6
  5. Dominican Republic: 712.4
  6. Brazil: 704.5
  7. Cuba: 704.5

Suggested citation:

PAHO. The burden of mental disorders in the Region of the Americas, 2000-2019. Pan American Health Organization, 2021 

DATA CLASSIFICATION

In the map and bar chart, the data is presented in five discrete classes created using the quantile classification method. Each class contains 20% of countries, which is easy to interpret. The quintile classes are labeled sequentially from Quintile 1 as the first quintile including the lowest fifth (0 to 20%) of the data to Quintile 5, the fifth quintile representing the class with the highest fifth (80% to 100%) of the data.

MEASURES

Measure names:

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) due to specific mental disorders.

Metric: Rate. 

Unit of Measure: DALY, and YLD per 100,000 population.

Topic: Mortality and burden of disease

Disaggregation: Age, Sex, Country, and Year

Method of estimation: Estimates by cause, age, sex, location (countries, and the region), and year were extracted from the WHO Global Health Estimates (GHE) 2019. These estimates represent the WHO's best estimates, computed using standard categories, definitions, and methods to ensure cross-country comparability, and may not be the same as official national estimates. 

Methodological details:

Data sources and methods for estimating causes of deaths and burden of diseases are described in the following documents:

Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates: Global, regional and subregional aggregates were computed by summing the absolute number of the measure (DALYs, YLDs) as the numerator and summing the population estimates from the World Population Prospect, produced by the UN Population Division, as denominators for all countries included in the geographic region or subregion. Rates were computed by dividing the aggregated numerator and aggregated population and multiplying the result by 100,000 population. Age-standardized rates were computed by the direct method using the World Standard Population. 

Preferred data sources: Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system with complete coverage and medical certification of cause of death, and administrative health records.

  1. WHO. WHO methods and data sources for country-level causes of death 2000-2019. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available online (accessed 1 February 2021).
  2. WHO. WHO methods and data sources for global burden of disease estimates, 2000-2019. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2020. Available online (accessed 1 February 2021).
  3. PAHO. Methodological Notes, NMH Data Portal. Pan American Health Organization. 2021.

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