Traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to the World Health Organization, will surpass many diseases as the major cause of death and disability by the year 2020. With an estimated 10 million people affected annually by TBI, the burden of mortality and morbidity that this condition imposes on society, makes TBI a pressing public health and medical problem. The burden of TBI is manifest throughout the world, and is especially prominent in Low and Middle Income Countries which face a higher preponderance of risk factors for causes of TBI and have inadequately prepared health systems to address the associated health outcomes. Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa demonstrate a higher TBI-related incidence rate varying from 150-170 per 100,000 respectively due to RTIs compared to a global rate of 106 per 100,000. As highlighted in this global review of TBI, there is a large gap in data on incidence, risk factors, sequelae, financial costs, and social impact of TBI. This should be addressed through planning of comprehensive TBI prevention programs in LMICs through well-established surveillance systems. Greater resources for research and prioritized interventions are critical to promote evidence-based policy for TBI.

SummaryBackground18% of the world's population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates have not been available so far for all major diseases and risk factors. Thus, we aimed to estimate the disease burden and risk factors in every state of India as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016.MethodsUsing all available data sources, the India State-level Disease Burden Initiative estimated burden (metrics were deaths, disability-adjusted life-years [DALYs], prevalence, incidence, and life expectancy) from 333 disease conditions and injuries and 84 risk factors for each state of India from 1990 to 2016 as part of GBD 2016. We divided the states of India into four epidemiological transition level (ETL) groups on the basis of the ratio of DALYs from communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNDs) to those from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries combined in 2016. We assessed variations in the burden of diseases and risk factors between ETL state groups and between states to inform a more specific health-system response in the states and for India as a whole.FindingsDALYs due to NCDs and injuries exceeded those due to CMNNDs in 2003 for India, but this transition had a range of 24 years for the four ETL state groups. The age-standardised DALY rate dropped by 36·2% in India from 1990 to 2016. The numbers of DALYs and DALY rates dropped substantially for most CMNNDs between 1990 and 2016 across all ETL groups, but rates of reduction for CMNNDs were slowest in the low ETL state group. By contrast, numbers of DALYs increased substantially for NCDs in all ETL state groups, and increased significantly for injuries in all ETL state groups except the highest. The all-age prevalence of most leading NCDs increased substantially in India from 1990 to 2016, and a modest decrease was recorded in the age-standardised NCD DALY rates. The major risk factors for NCDs, including high systolic blood pressure, high fasting plasma glucose, high total cholesterol, and high body-mass index, increased from 1990 to 2016, with generally higher levels in higher ETL states; ambient air pollution also increased and was highest in the low ETL group. The incidence rate of the leading causes of injuries also increased from 1990 to 2016. The five leading individual causes of DALYs in India in 2016 were ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, and cerebrovascular disease; and the five leading risk factors for DALYs in 2016 were child and maternal malnutrition, air pollution, dietary risks, high systolic blood pressure, and high fasting plasma glucose. Behind these broad trends many variations existed between the ETL state groups and between states within the ETL groups. Of the ten le...

Summary Background There are few epidemiological studies of suicide in India. Methods A nationally representative mortality survey determined the cause of death occurring in 1·1 million homes in 6671 small areas chosen randomly from all parts of India. Two trained physicians independently assigned codes to the causes of death, based on a nonmedical surveyor’s field interview with household respondents. Findings About 3% of deaths at ages 15 years and older (2684/95 335) were due to suicide. This corresponds to about 187 000 suicide deaths in India in 2010 at these ages (115 000 men and 72 000 women; age-standardised rates per 100 000 at ages 15 years and older of 26·3 for men and 17·5 for women). For suicide deaths at ages 15 years and older 40% percent of male suicides and 56% of female suicides occurred at ages 15–29 years. A 15 year old in India had an approximate cumulative risk of 1·3% of dying before age 80 years by suicide; men had higher risk (1·7%) than women (1·0%), with especially high risks in South India (3·5% among men and 1·8% among women). Suicide risks were higher in educated versus illiterate adults. About half of the suicides were from poisoning, much of which was pesticide. At ages 15–29 years, suicide accounted for nearly as many deaths as transport accidents in men and maternal deaths in women. Interpretation Suicide death rates in India are amongst the highest in the world. A large proportion of suicides occur at younger ages, especially in women. Much of Indian suicides may be avoidable, starting with control of access to pesticides. Funding U.S. National Institutes of Health

Background Mental disorders are among the leading causes of non-fatal disease burden in India, but a systematic understanding of their prevalence, disease burden, and risk factors is not readily available for each state of India. In this report, we describe the prevalence and disease burden of each mental disorder for the states of India, from 1990 to 2017. Methods We used all accessible data from multiple sources to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders, years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) caused by these disorders for all the states of India from 1990 to 2017, as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. We assessed the heterogeneity and time trends of mental disorders across the states of India. We grouped states on the basis of their Socio-demographic Index (SDI), which is a composite measure of per-capita income, mean education, and fertility rate in women younger than 25 years. We also assessed the association of major mental disorders with suicide deaths. We calculated 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for the point estimates. Findings In 2017, 197•3 million (95% UI 178•4-216•4) people had mental disorders in India, including 45•7 million (42•4-49•8) with depressive disorders and 44•9 million (41•2-48•9) with anxiety disorders. We found a significant, but modest, correlation between the prevalence of depressive disorders and suicide death rate at the state level for females (r²=0•33, p=0•0009) and males (r²=0•19, p=0•015). The contribution of mental disorders to the total DALYs in India increased from 2•5% (2•0-3•1) in 1990 to 4•7% (3•7-5•6) in 2017. In 2017, depressive disorders contributed the most to the total mental disorders DALYs (33•8%, 29•5-38•5), followed by anxiety disorders (19•0%, 15•9-22•4), idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (IDID; 10•8%, 6•3-15•9), schizophrenia (9•8%, 7•7-12•4), bipolar disorder (6•9%, 4•9-9•6), conduct disorder (5•9%, 4•0-8•1), autism spectrum disorders (3•2%, 2•7-3•8), eating disorders (2•2%, 1•7-2•8), and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 0•3%, 0•2-0•5); other mental disorders comprised 8•0% (6•1-10•1) of DALYs. Almost all (>99•9%) of these DALYs were made up of YLDs. The DALY rate point estimates of mental disorders with onset predominantly in childhood and adolescence (IDID, conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD) were higher in low SDI states than in middle SDI and high SDI states in 2017, whereas the trend was reversed for mental disorders that manifest predominantly during adulthood. Although the prevalence of mental disorders with onset in childhood and adolescence decreased in India from 1990 to 2017, with a stronger decrease in high SDI and middle SDI states than in low SDI states, the prevalence of mental disorders that manifest predominantly during adulthood increased during this period. Interpretation One in seven Indians were affected by mental disorders of varying severity in 2017. The proportional contribution of mental disorders to the t...

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, disability and socioeconomic losses in India and other developing countries. Specific topics addressed in this paper include magnitude of the problem, causes, context of injury occurrence, risk factors, severity, outcome and impact of TBIs on rapidly transforming societies. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 to 2 million persons are injured and 1 million succumb to death every year in India. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause (60%) of TBIs followed by falls (20%-25%) and violence (10%). Alcohol involvement is known to be present among 15%-20% of TBIs at the time of injury. The rehabilitation needs of brain injured persons are significantly high and increasing from year to year. India and other developing countries face the major challenges of prevention, pre-hospital care and rehabilitation in their rapidly changing environments to reduce the burden of TBIs.