ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1627448
This article is part of the Research TopicPublic Health Innovations for Enhancing Newborn and Maternal Well-BeingView all 4 articles
Analysis of Global, Regional, and National Burdens of Neonatal Encephalopathy from 1990 to 2021: Insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- Children's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, China
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Background The Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 urges nations to reduce neonatal mortality rates to no more than 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030. Neonatal encephalopathy (NE), the third leading cause of under-five mortality, significantly impacts global neonatal death rates and long-term health. A comprehensive assessment is essential to inform public health strategies. This study aims to analyze the burden of Neonatal Encephalopathy on global, regional, and national levels. Methods Data on the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) for NE from 1990 to 2021 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021. To evaluate the changes in ASIR and ASMR associated with the burden of NE, estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) and overall percentage changes were calculated. Furthermore, the relationship between disease burden and the sociodemographic index (SDI) was analyzed, along with predictions generated using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model.The global burden of NE has significantly declined over the past three decades. Between 1990 and 2021, the global ASIR decreased from 20.22 to 17.16, while the number of cases fell from 1,295,891.1 to 1,061,448.15, reflecting an 18.09% reduction. Similarly, the global ASMR declined from 13.81 in 1990 to 9.75 in 2021, with deaths decreasing from 883,082.06 to 603,605.62, representing a 31.65% reduction. Projections based on ARIMA models indicate that from 2022 to 2030, the global ASIR is expected to decline from 17.06 to 16.36, and the ASMR is projected to decrease from 9.55 to 7.98, suggesting a continued reduction in the burden of NE. Conclusion This study illustrates the global progress made in reducing neonatal encephalopathy from 1990 to 2021; however, significant disparities persist. Targeted interventions are crucial to address these inequities and to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.
Keywords: neonatal encephalopathy, Disease burden 疾病负担, sociodemographic index, prediction, Global burden of disease
Received: 12 May 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tan, Mageziyi, Long, Dilimulati, Hui and Rejiafu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shujun Tan, 3092329669@qq.com
Nuerya Rejiafu, nerejep@163.com
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