ArticlePloS one2025
Unmasking the rising global burden of depression: A 32-year GBD analysis of gender disparities and regional hotspots in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A scoping review protocol on mental health interventions for women exposed to gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Population attributable fraction of modifiable risk factors for dementia in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A community-based cross-sectional analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Global, Regional, and National Burden of Alopecia Areata in Children and Adolescents Aged 0-19 years from 1990 to 2021 and Projection to 2040.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2026Article
- The interplay between inflammation and oxidative stress in depression: pathogenic mechanisms and treatment approaches.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsDepression, a leading contributor to the global disease burden, exhibits alarming increases in incidence and prevalence, with pronounced disparities across regions and genders. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of depression burden from 1990 to 2021, integrating the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 data to identify critical hotspots and policy-relevant trends.
methodsEstimated global, regional, and national burden of disease for depression from 1990-2021 by extracting incidence, prevalence, and DALYS from the Global Burden of Disease(GBD) database 2021.
resultsFrom 1990 to 2021, the global incidence of depression surged by 15.6% (3,749-4,334 per 100,000), with Sub-Saharan Africa emerging as an unexpected epicenter. Uganda and The Gambia recorded the highest incidence rates globally (9,644 and 7,624 per 100,000, respectively), likely linked to civil instability and healthcare deficits. Women bore a disproportionate burden, with adolescent females (15-19 years) showing 64% higher incidence than males (5,584 vs. 3,401 per 100,000). High-income regions paradoxically exhibited steeper annual percentage increases (EAPC: 1.0 in North America), suggesting improved detection or escalating stressors.
conclusionsThis study highlights urgent priorities: (1) integrating mental health services into primary care in conflict-affected African nations. (2) gender-sensitive interventions targeting adolescent females. (3) global equity in mental health resource allocation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.