From 1990 to 2023, the global morbidity gap widened from nearly 9 years to almost 11 years, an increase of approximately 22%, indicating that as life expectancy increases, a growing number of years are being spent in poor health. This trend was consistent across locations, with point estimates suggesting an increasing morbidity gap in 203 of 204 countries and territories. These patterns reflect a widening morbidity gap across adult age groups, rather than a concentration of disability in the final years of life. In 2023, the morbidity gap was largest in the high SDI quintile and smallest in the low SDI quintile, reflecting differences in lifespan rather than healthier ageing. Globally, musculoskeletal disorders (eg, low back pain), mental disorders (eg, depressive disorders and anxiety disorders), sense organ diseases (eg, age-related hearing loss), unintentional injuries (eg, falls), and other non-communicable diseases together accounted for over 50% of the years lived in poor health, with nutritional disorders also contributing substantially in some lower SDI contexts. Globally, high fasting plasma glucose, high BMI, child and maternal malnutrition (especially iron deficiency), and tobacco use (particularly smoking) were leading risk factors contributing to the morbidity gap. Across geography and SDI strata, females lived longer than males but spent more years in poor health, reinforcing persistent sex differences in lifespan and healthspan.
The expansion of the morbidity gap across nearly all locations indicates that improvements in survival have consistently outpaced reductions in non-fatal health loss across geographies, SDI levels, and sexes, with most populations now spending a decade or more of life in poor health across the lifespan. Progress towards healthy ageing should therefore be assessed not only by reduced mortality, but also by declines in years lived in poor health, with emphasis placed on extending healthspan.
Lees het volledige artikel op de site van the Lancet.
Bron: Hay, S., Nam, P., Saqib, H., McLaughlin, S., Bisignano, C., Ostroff, S., Ng, M., Nomura, S., Schumacher, A., Murray, C., : ‘Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023’, thelancet.com, augustus 2026.
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