ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Disaster and Emergency Medicine
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1628455
Global, regional, and national burden of spinal injuries attributable to road injuries: a systematic analysis of incidence, prevalence, and YLDs with projections to 2046
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Spine Surgery， The Central Hospital of Yongzhou, China, Yongzhou, China
- 2Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, China
- 34.Department of Pharmacy, The People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region & Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China., Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China, China
- 4The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China.The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China., Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China, China
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Background: Road injuries remain a critical global public health issue, with spinal injuries representing a major contributor to long-term disability. This study systematically analyzes the global, regional, and national burden of spinal injuries attributable to road injuries from 1990 to 2021 and projects trends to 2046.Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, we estimated incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for spinal injuries caused by road traffic, analyses spanned 204 countries, stratified by sex, age, and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) regions, GBD regions, and countries. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) per 100,000 population were calculated, and temporal trends were assessed via estimated annual percentage change (EAPC).Future projections (2022-2046) utilized age-period-cohort (APC) modeling.In 2021, road injuries caused 95,734 (95% UI: 66,597-138,308) incident spinal injuries globally, with 2.63 million (95% UI: 2.39-2.93 million) prevalent cases and 777,365 (95% UI: 552,847-1,004,818) YLDs. Males bore 2.9-2.7 times higher burden than females. Age-standardized incidence (ASIR), prevalence (ASPR), and YLDs rates (ASYLDR) peaked in the 65-69 age group (ASPR: 75.00/100,000; ASYLDR: 20.64/100,000). High SDI regions exhibited the highest ASRs (ASIR: 2.28/100,000; ASYLDR: 16.83/100,000), while Middle SDI regions had the largest absolute caseloads (incidence: 27,086; prevalence: 703,112). From 1990 to 2021, global ASIR declined by 40% (1.95 to 1.17/100,000) and ASYLDR by 46% (16.85 to 9.17/100,000). By 2046, male incidence is projected to rise by 5.3%, with ASYLDR remaining 3-fold higher in males than females (10.86 vs. 3.61/100,000).Despite declining age-standardized rates, the absolute burden of road injury-related spinal trauma persists, particularly in Middle SDI regions. Targeted interventions, enhanced road safety policies, gender-specific prevention programs, and improved trauma care, are critical to mitigate disparities. Projections underscore the urgent need for equitable strategies to address rising burdens in aging and rapidly motorizing populations.
Keywords: Spinal Injuries, Road injuries, global, disease burden, GBD
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Feng, Ou, Lan, Wei and He. 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:
Jiyong Wei, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China.The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China., Nanning, Guangxi, PR. China, China
Qing He, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, China
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