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Burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in China and its provinces, 1990–2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2025

Wei Tian Open the ORCID record for Wei Tian [Opens in a new window] ,
Guangcan Yan ,
Shangzhi Xiong ,
Jing Zhang ,
Junyi Peng ,
Xinyi Zhang ,
Yuanzhong Zhou ,
Tao Liu ,
Yafeng Zhang  and
Pengpeng Ye
...Show all authors
Wei Tian
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Guangcan Yan
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Shangzhi Xiong
Affiliation:
The George Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Jing Zhang
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Junyi Peng
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Xinyi Zhang
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Yuanzhong Zhou
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
Tao Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, Guizhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Guiyang, China
Yafeng Zhang
Affiliation:
Institute for Hospital Management of Henan Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
Pengpeng Ye
Affiliation:
National Centre for Non-Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Wenran Zhao
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
Maoyi Tian*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China Department of General Practice, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
*
Correspondence: Maoyi Tian. Email: maoyi.tian@hrbmu.edu.cn.
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Abstract

Background

Depressive and anxiety disorders constitute a major component of the disease burden of mental disorders in China.

Aims

To comprehensively evaluate the disease burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in China.

Method

The raw data is sourced from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021. This study presented the disease burden by prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of depressive and anxiety disorders at both the national and provincial levels in China from 1990 to 2021, and by gender (referred to as 'sex' in the GBD 2021) and age.

Results

From 1990 to 2021, the number of depressive disorder cases (from 34.4 to 53.1 million) and anxiety disorders (from 40.5 to 53.1 million) increased by 54% (95% uncertainty intervals: 43.9, 65.3) and 31.2% (19.9, 43.8), respectively. The age-standardised prevalence rate of depressive disorders decreased by 6.4% (2.9, 10.4), from 3071.8 to 2875.7 per 100 000 persons, while the prevalence of anxiety disorders remained stable. COVID-19 had a significant adverse impact on both conditions. There was considerable variability in the disease burden across genders, age groups, provinces and temporal trends. DALYs showed similar patterns.

Conclusion

The burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in China has been rising over the past three decades, with a larger increase during COVID-19. There is notable variability in disease burden across genders, age groups and provinces, which are important factors for the government and policymakers when developing intervention strategies. Additionally, the government and health authorities should consider the potential impact of public health emergencies on the burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in future efforts.

Keywords

Depressive and anxiety disordersglobal burden of diseaseChinaprevalencedisability-adjusted life years

Information

Type
Original Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 228 , Issue 1 , January 2026 , pp. 18 - 28
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally.

**

Collaborator, Global Burden of Disease.

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