Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators; Paul Ward; Jacqueline H. Stephens; Seyed Afshin Shorofi; Konrad Pesudovs; David Lim Lim; Himal Kandel; Billingsley Kaambwa; Mohammad Hamiduzzaman; Joanne Flavel; Nelsensius Klau Fauk; Richard A. Burns; Norma B. Bulamu; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x

Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators, Paul Ward, Jacqueline H. Stephens, Seyed Afshin Shorofi, Konrad Pesudovs, David Lim Lim, Himal Kandel, Billingsley Kaambwa, Mohammad Hamiduzzaman, Joanne Flavel, Nelsensius Klau Fauk, Richard A. Burns, Norma B. Bulamu, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah

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Abstract

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.

Original language	English
Article number	4235
Number of pages	36
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x
Publication status	Published - 7 May 2025

Keywords

Global Burden of Disease
acute care
chronic care

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10.1038/s41467-025-56910-xLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Final published versionFinal published version, 1.53 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators, Ward, P., Stephens, J. H., Shorofi, S. A., Pesudovs, K., Lim, D. L., Kandel, H., Kaambwa, B., Hamiduzzaman, M., Flavel, J., Fauk, N. K., Burns, R. A., Bulamu, N. B., & Ahinkorah, B. O. (2025). Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Nature Communications, 16(1), Article 4235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x

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title = "Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019",

abstract = "Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.",

keywords = "Global Burden of Disease, acute care, chronic care",

author = "{GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators} and Zuniga, {Yves Miel H.} and Alimuddin Zumla and Zuhlke, {Liesl J.} and Mohammad Zoladl and Boback Ziaeian and Chenwen Zhong and Zhao, {Xiu Ju George} and Zhang, {Zhi Jiang} and Jianrong Zhang and Zepro, {Nejimu Biza} and Zenebe, {Getachew Assefa} and Zeitoun, {Jean David} and Zegeye, {Zelalem Banjaw} and Zastrozhin, {Mikhail Sergeevich} and Zahra Zareshahrabadi and Kourosh Zarea and Dehnavi, {Ali Zare} and Iman Zare and Moein Zangiabadian and Alireza Zangeneh and Nelson Zamora and Zaman, {Sojib Bin} and Nazar Zaki and Farima Zakaryaei and Mazyar Zahir and Tajrishi, {Farbod Zahedi} and Vesna Zadnik and Siddhesh Zadey and Hossein Yusefi and Taraneh Yousefinezhadi and Zabihollah Yousefi and Younis, {Mustafa Z.} and Yuyi You and Naohiro Yonemoto and Yon, {Dong Keon} and Eshetu Yisihak and Paul Yip and Vahit Yiğit and Arzu Yiğit and Siyan Yi and Pengpeng Ye and Fereshteh Yazdanpanah and Sanni Yaya and Yuichiro Yano and Lin Yang and Kazumasa Yamagishi and Tomohide Yamada and Jabbari, {Seyed Hossein Yahyazadeh} and Yahya, {Gahin Abdulraheem Tayib Yahya} and Sajad Yaghoubi and Xiaoyue Xu and Suowen Xu and Hanzhang Xu and Yang Xie and Hong Xiao and Wulandari, {Ratna D.W.I.} and Wubetie, {Gedif Ashebir} and Wu, {Ai Min} and Woolf, {Anthony D.} and Wolfe, {Charles D.A.} and Melat Woldemariam and Tsadik, {Daniel Sisay Wolde} and Woday, {Abay Tadesse} and Wickramasinghe, {Nuwan Darshana} and Taweewat Wiangkham and Ronny Westerman and Wen, {Yi Feng} and Wei, {Melissa Y.} and Abdul Waris and Paul Ward and Ziyue Wang and Wang, {Yuan Pang} and Yu Wang and Yanzhong Wang and Vu, {Linh Gia} and Victor Volovici and Bay Vo and Vasily Vlassov and Vishwanath, {Prashant M.} and Violante, {Francesco S.} and Villafa{\~n}e, {Jorge Hugo} and Dominique Vervoort and Massimiliano Veroux and Madhur Verma and Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian and Siavash Vaziri and Milena Vasic and Vasankari, {Tommi Juhani} and Santosh Varughese and Priya Vart and Varma, {Ravi Prasad} and Constantine Vardavas and {Van den Eynde}, Jef and Rohollah Valizadeh and Valdez, {Pascual R.} and Tahbaz, {Sahel Valadan} and Alireza Vakilian and Marco Vacante and Era Upadhyay and Bhaskaran Unnikrishnan and Brigid Unim and Umeokonkwo, {Chukwuma David} and Umapathi, {Krishna Kishore} and Srikanth Umakanthan and Sana Ullah and Saif Ullah and Uezono, {Deinzel Robles} and Tusa, {Biruk Shalmeno} and Tufa, {Derara Girma} and Car, {Lorainne Tudor} and Nikolaos Tsilimparis and Truelsen, {Thomas Clement} and Tripathy, {Jaya Prasad} and Niharika Tripathi and Manjari Tripathi and Tran, {Mai Thi Ngoc} and Tovani-Palone, {Marcos Roberto} and Roman Topor-Madry and Marcello Tonelli and Tincho, {Marius Belmondo} and Ticoalu, {Jansje Henny Vera} and Ales Tichopad and Thornton, {James Douglas} and Thomas, {Nikhil Kenny} and Nihal Thomas and Friedrich Thienemann and Rekha Thapar and Thankappan, {Kavumpurathu Raman} and Pugazhenthan Thangaraju and Azene Tesfaye and Tesema, {Getaye Worku} and Masayuki Teramoto and Temsah, {Mohamad Hani} and Temesgen, {Worku Animaw} and Hadi Tehrani and Tefera, {Yibekal Manaye} and Tat, {Vivian Y.} and Tat, {Nathan Y.} and Tarkang, {Elvis Enowbeyang} and Tarigan, {Ingan Ukur} and Tan, {Ker Kan} and Mircea Tampa and Talaat, {Iman M.} and Soodejani, {Moslem Taheri} and Abkenar, {Yasaman Taheri} and Majid Taheri and Tadakamadla, {Santosh Kumar} and Takahiro Tabuchi and Mohammad Tabish and Tabb, {Karen M.} and Shima Tabatabai and Tabatabaeizadeh, {Seyed Amir} and Rafael Tabar{\'e}s-Seisdedos and Tabaeian, {Seidamir Pasha} and Mikl{\'o}s Sz{\'o}cska and Szeto, {Mindy D.} and Johan Sundstr{\"o}m and Jing Sun and Abida Sultana and Muhammad Suleman and Suchdev, {Parminder S.} and Konstantinos Stroumpoulis and Stokes, {Mark A.} and Stephens, {Jacqueline H.} and Paschalis Steiropoulos and Stein, {Dan J.} and Stefan, {Simona Catalina} and Nicholas Steel and Starodubova, {Antonina V.} and Sreeramareddy, {Chandrashekhar T.} and Soyiri, {Ireneous N.} and Sousa, {Ra{\'u}l A.R.C.} and Soriano, {Joan B.} and Prashant Sood and Yimeng Song and Suhang Song and Ranjani Somayaji and Soltani-Zangbar, {Mohammad Sadegh} and Yonatan Solomon and Bogdan Socea and Sleet, {David A.} and Skryabina, {Anna Aleksandrovna} and Skryabin, {Valentin Yurievich} and Skou, {S{\o}ren T.} and Siraj, {Md Shahjahan} and Robert Sinto and Surjit Singh and Paramdeep Singh and Singh, {Narinder Pal} and Kuldeep Singh and Singh, {Jasvinder A.} and Harpreet Singh and Garima Singh and Singh, {Balbir Bagicha} and Ambrish Singh and Anjali Singal and Ehsan Sinaei and Biagio Simonetti and Wudneh Simegn and Sima, {Ali Reza} and Silva, {Lu{\'i}s Manuel Lopes Rodrigues} and Sigfusdottir, {Inga Dora} and Kerem Shuval and Shuja, {Kanwar Hamza} and Sunil Shrestha and Shrestha, {Dhan Bahadur Dhan} and Shorofi, {Seyed Afshin} and Parnian Shobeiri and Velizar Shivarov and Shivakumar, {K. M.} and Kawkab Shishani and Shiri, {maryam Shirvani} and Rahman Shiri and Shin, {Jae Il} and Mika Shigematsu and Amir Shiani and Yi Shi and Peilin Shi and Shetty, {Pavanchand H.} and Shetty, {Jeevan K.} and Shetty, {B. Suresh Kumar} and Adithi Shetty and Shashank Shekhar and Abbas Sheikhtaheri and Sheikhi, {Rahim Ali} and Aziz Sheikh and Blerta Shehaj and Maryam Shayan and Shavandi, {Amin Amin} and Shashamo, {Bereket Beyene} and Vishal Sharma and Saurab Sharma and Purva Sharma and Javad Sharifi-Rad and Sakineh Sharifian and Azam Sharifi and Sharew, {Nigussie Tadesse} and Sharew, {Mequannent Melaku} and Mohd Shanawaz and Shalash, {Ali S.} and Konrad Pesudovs and Lim, {David Lim} and Himal Kandel and Billingsley Kaambwa and Mohammad Hamiduzzaman and Joanne Flavel and Fauk, {Nelsensius Klau} and Burns, {Richard A.} and Bulamu, {Norma B.} and Ahinkorah, {Bright Opoku}",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature",

number = "1",

}

GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators, Ward, P, Stephens, JH, Shorofi, SA, Pesudovs, K, Lim, DL, Kandel, H, Kaambwa, B, Hamiduzzaman, M, Flavel, J, Fauk, NK, Burns, RA, Bulamu, NB & Ahinkorah, BO 2025, 'Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019', Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 4235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterising acute and chronic care needs

T2 - insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

AU - GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators

AU - Zuniga, Yves Miel H.

AU - Zumla, Alimuddin

AU - Zuhlke, Liesl J.

AU - Zoladl, Mohammad

AU - Ziaeian, Boback

AU - Zhong, Chenwen

AU - Zhao, Xiu Ju George

AU - Zhang, Zhi Jiang

AU - Zhang, Jianrong

AU - Zepro, Nejimu Biza

AU - Zenebe, Getachew Assefa

AU - Zeitoun, Jean David

AU - Zegeye, Zelalem Banjaw

AU - Zastrozhin, Mikhail Sergeevich

AU - Zareshahrabadi, Zahra

AU - Zarea, Kourosh

AU - Dehnavi, Ali Zare

AU - Zare, Iman

AU - Zangiabadian, Moein

AU - Zangeneh, Alireza

AU - Zamora, Nelson

AU - Zaman, Sojib Bin

AU - Zaki, Nazar

AU - Zakaryaei, Farima

AU - Zahir, Mazyar

AU - Tajrishi, Farbod Zahedi

AU - Zadnik, Vesna

AU - Zadey, Siddhesh

AU - Yusefi, Hossein

AU - Yousefinezhadi, Taraneh

AU - Yousefi, Zabihollah

AU - Younis, Mustafa Z.

AU - You, Yuyi

AU - Yonemoto, Naohiro

AU - Yon, Dong Keon

AU - Yisihak, Eshetu

AU - Yip, Paul

AU - Yiğit, Vahit

AU - Yiğit, Arzu

AU - Yi, Siyan

AU - Ye, Pengpeng

AU - Yazdanpanah, Fereshteh

AU - Yaya, Sanni

AU - Yano, Yuichiro

AU - Yang, Lin

AU - Yamagishi, Kazumasa

AU - Yamada, Tomohide

AU - Jabbari, Seyed Hossein Yahyazadeh

AU - Yahya, Gahin Abdulraheem Tayib Yahya

AU - Yaghoubi, Sajad

AU - Xu, Xiaoyue

AU - Xu, Suowen

AU - Xu, Hanzhang

AU - Xie, Yang

AU - Xiao, Hong

AU - Wulandari, Ratna D.W.I.

AU - Wubetie, Gedif Ashebir

AU - Wu, Ai Min

AU - Woolf, Anthony D.

AU - Wolfe, Charles D.A.

AU - Woldemariam, Melat

AU - Tsadik, Daniel Sisay Wolde

AU - Woday, Abay Tadesse

AU - Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Darshana

AU - Wiangkham, Taweewat

AU - Westerman, Ronny

AU - Wen, Yi Feng

AU - Wei, Melissa Y.

AU - Waris, Abdul

AU - Ward, Paul

AU - Wang, Ziyue

AU - Wang, Yuan Pang

AU - Wang, Yu

AU - Wang, Yanzhong

AU - Vu, Linh Gia

AU - Volovici, Victor

AU - Vo, Bay

AU - Vlassov, Vasily

AU - Vishwanath, Prashant M.

AU - Violante, Francesco S.

AU - Villafañe, Jorge Hugo

AU - Vervoort, Dominique

AU - Veroux, Massimiliano

AU - Verma, Madhur

AU - Venketasubramanian, Narayanaswamy

AU - Vaziri, Siavash

AU - Vasic, Milena

AU - Vasankari, Tommi Juhani

AU - Varughese, Santosh

AU - Vart, Priya

AU - Varma, Ravi Prasad

AU - Vardavas, Constantine

AU - Van den Eynde, Jef

AU - Valizadeh, Rohollah

AU - Valdez, Pascual R.

AU - Tahbaz, Sahel Valadan

AU - Vakilian, Alireza

AU - Vacante, Marco

AU - Upadhyay, Era

AU - Unnikrishnan, Bhaskaran

AU - Unim, Brigid

AU - Umeokonkwo, Chukwuma David

AU - Umapathi, Krishna Kishore

AU - Umakanthan, Srikanth

AU - Ullah, Sana

AU - Ullah, Saif

AU - Uezono, Deinzel Robles

AU - Tusa, Biruk Shalmeno

AU - Tufa, Derara Girma

AU - Car, Lorainne Tudor

AU - Tsilimparis, Nikolaos

AU - Truelsen, Thomas Clement

AU - Tripathy, Jaya Prasad

AU - Tripathi, Niharika

AU - Tripathi, Manjari

AU - Tran, Mai Thi Ngoc

AU - Tovani-Palone, Marcos Roberto

AU - Topor-Madry, Roman

AU - Tonelli, Marcello

AU - Tincho, Marius Belmondo

AU - Ticoalu, Jansje Henny Vera

AU - Tichopad, Ales

AU - Thornton, James Douglas

AU - Thomas, Nikhil Kenny

AU - Thomas, Nihal

AU - Thienemann, Friedrich

AU - Thapar, Rekha

AU - Thankappan, Kavumpurathu Raman

AU - Thangaraju, Pugazhenthan

AU - Tesfaye, Azene

AU - Tesema, Getaye Worku

AU - Teramoto, Masayuki

AU - Temsah, Mohamad Hani

AU - Temesgen, Worku Animaw

AU - Tehrani, Hadi

AU - Tefera, Yibekal Manaye

AU - Tat, Vivian Y.

AU - Tat, Nathan Y.

AU - Tarkang, Elvis Enowbeyang

AU - Tarigan, Ingan Ukur

AU - Tan, Ker Kan

AU - Tampa, Mircea

AU - Talaat, Iman M.

AU - Soodejani, Moslem Taheri

AU - Abkenar, Yasaman Taheri

AU - Taheri, Majid

AU - Tadakamadla, Santosh Kumar

AU - Tabuchi, Takahiro

AU - Tabish, Mohammad

AU - Tabb, Karen M.

AU - Tabatabai, Shima

AU - Tabatabaeizadeh, Seyed Amir

AU - Tabarés-Seisdedos, Rafael

AU - Tabaeian, Seidamir Pasha

AU - Szócska, Miklós

AU - Szeto, Mindy D.

AU - Sundström, Johan

AU - Sun, Jing

AU - Sultana, Abida

AU - Suleman, Muhammad

AU - Suchdev, Parminder S.

AU - Stroumpoulis, Konstantinos

AU - Stokes, Mark A.

AU - Stephens, Jacqueline H.

AU - Steiropoulos, Paschalis

AU - Stein, Dan J.

AU - Stefan, Simona Catalina

AU - Steel, Nicholas

AU - Starodubova, Antonina V.

AU - Sreeramareddy, Chandrashekhar T.

AU - Soyiri, Ireneous N.

AU - Sousa, Raúl A.R.C.

AU - Soriano, Joan B.

AU - Sood, Prashant

AU - Song, Yimeng

AU - Song, Suhang

AU - Somayaji, Ranjani

AU - Soltani-Zangbar, Mohammad Sadegh

AU - Solomon, Yonatan

AU - Socea, Bogdan

AU - Sleet, David A.

AU - Skryabina, Anna Aleksandrovna

AU - Skryabin, Valentin Yurievich

AU - Skou, Søren T.

AU - Siraj, Md Shahjahan

AU - Sinto, Robert

AU - Singh, Surjit

AU - Singh, Paramdeep

AU - Singh, Narinder Pal

AU - Singh, Kuldeep

AU - Singh, Jasvinder A.

AU - Singh, Harpreet

AU - Singh, Garima

AU - Singh, Balbir Bagicha

AU - Singh, Ambrish

AU - Singal, Anjali

AU - Sinaei, Ehsan

AU - Simonetti, Biagio

AU - Simegn, Wudneh

AU - Sima, Ali Reza

AU - Silva, Luís Manuel Lopes Rodrigues

AU - Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora

AU - Shuval, Kerem

AU - Shuja, Kanwar Hamza

AU - Shrestha, Sunil

AU - Shrestha, Dhan Bahadur Dhan

AU - Shorofi, Seyed Afshin

AU - Shobeiri, Parnian

AU - Shivarov, Velizar

AU - Shivakumar, K. M.

AU - Shishani, Kawkab

AU - Shiri, maryam Shirvani

AU - Shiri, Rahman

AU - Shin, Jae Il

AU - Shigematsu, Mika

AU - Shiani, Amir

AU - Shi, Yi

AU - Shi, Peilin

AU - Shetty, Pavanchand H.

AU - Shetty, Jeevan K.

AU - Shetty, B. Suresh Kumar

AU - Shetty, Adithi

AU - Shekhar, Shashank

AU - Sheikhtaheri, Abbas

AU - Sheikhi, Rahim Ali

AU - Sheikh, Aziz

AU - Shehaj, Blerta

AU - Shayan, Maryam

AU - Shavandi, Amin Amin

AU - Shashamo, Bereket Beyene

AU - Sharma, Vishal

AU - Sharma, Saurab

AU - Sharma, Purva

AU - Sharifi-Rad, Javad

AU - Sharifian, Sakineh

AU - Sharifi, Azam

AU - Sharew, Nigussie Tadesse

AU - Sharew, Mequannent Melaku

AU - Shanawaz, Mohd

AU - Shalash, Ali S.

AU - Pesudovs, Konrad

AU - Lim, David Lim

AU - Kandel, Himal

AU - Kaambwa, Billingsley

AU - Hamiduzzaman, Mohammad

AU - Flavel, Joanne

AU - Fauk, Nelsensius Klau

AU - Burns, Richard A.

AU - Bulamu, Norma B.

AU - Ahinkorah, Bright Opoku

PY - 2025/5/7

Y1 - 2025/5/7

N2 - Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.

AB - Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.

KW - Global Burden of Disease

KW - acute care

KW - chronic care

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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x

DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x

M3 - Article

C2 - 40335470

AN - SCOPUS:105007161094

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 16

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 4235

ER -

Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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