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. 2024 Jul 30;14(7):e084755.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-084755.

Trends in the burden of female infertility among adults aged 20-49 years during 1990-2019: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Yijie Wang  1 , Wei Wang  2 , Hongfeng Li  3 , Qiao Du  3
Affiliations

Trends in the burden of female infertility among adults aged 20-49 years during 1990-2019: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Yijie Wang et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this analysis was to investigate the worldwide distribution and trends in the burden of female infertility (FI).

Design and setting: Analysis of cross-sectional data from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019.

Participants: Adults aged 20-49 years in various geographical regions, Sociodemographic Index (SDI) levels and populations across 204 countries worldwide.

Outcome measures: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardised DALY rates and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) for FI over the research period.

Results: The global burden of FI, as measured by DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates among adults aged 20-49 years, exhibited an upward trend from 1990 to 2019. Regions such as Tropical Latin America (EAPC: 3.76, 95% CI 2.76 to 4.77), South Asia (EAPC: 1.74, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.48) and Andean Latin America (EAPC: 8.54, 95% CI 6.79 to 10.32) had higher DALYs. The age-standardised DALY rates notably increased in low-middle-SDI and low-SDI countries, with EAPCs of 1.42 (95% CI 0.76 to 2.10) and 1.25 (95% CI 0.30 to 2.21), respectively. Despite lower overall DALYs in high-SDI countries, they experienced the highest EAPC in DALYs (1.57, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.83) during the period 1990-2019. China and India consistently had the highest DALYs for FI globally in both 1990 and 2019, while Africa and Latin America bore a significantly greater burden of the disease compared with other regions.

Conclusion: The GBD Study data on FI among adults aged 20-49 years revealed a rising global trend in FI from 1990 to 2019, with notable variations across different regions.

Keywords: gynaecology; obstetrics; pregnant women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Age-standardised DALY rate, DALYs of FI among people aged 20–49 years in 1990 and 2019 in different regions of the world. DALYs, disability-adjusted life years; FI, female infertility.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Trends in the global burden of female infertility among people aged 20–49 years from 1990 to 2019. (A) Growth proportion of DALYs. (B) EAPC of DALYs. (C) EAPC of age-standardised DALY rate. DALYs, disability-adjusted life years; EAPC, estimated annual percentage change.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Heat map of DALY rate for female infertility by country and age group in 2019. DALYs, disability-adjusted life years. (A) Afghanistan-Denmark. (B) Libya-Saint Kitts and Nevis. (C) Djibouti-Liberia. (D) Saint Lucis-Zimbabwe.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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