Burden of Rehabilitation-Relevant Diseases in Mexico: Findings From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Importance: To this author's knowledge, this is the first study to examine the burden of rehabilitation-relevant conditions in Mexico, providing valuable evidence to inform public policy and enhance the delivery of rehabilitation services.

Objective: This study presents a national-level analysis estimating the number of people in Mexico who required rehabilitation at least once during the course of an illness or injury that caused a disability, based on data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study.

Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis.

Setting and participants: This study is a secondary analysis using 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study estimates to quantify the burden of diseases and conditions considered amenable to rehabilitation. The use of these estimates provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to quantifying the magnitude of health loss in regional, national, and subnational locations using Bayesian methods.

Results: The findings suggest that the prevalence of persons with conditions that would benefit from rehabilitation was 43,488.0 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] = 39,240.1-47,930.6) per 100,000 persons, and the total estimated years lived with disability due to the same conditions were 3,610,038.9 (95% UI = 2,218,757.8-5,575,356.1). The total estimated number of people with musculoskeletal disorders who could benefit from rehabilitation services was 24,444,835 (95% UI = 21,061,024-27,876,368). In addition, an estimated 22,464,680 individuals (95% UI = 21,481,932-23,547,373) with hearing loss were also identified as likely to benefit from rehabilitation interventions.

Conclusions: The study provides a national-level analysis of the burden of diseases and conditions that are likely to require rehabilitation services in Mexico. The findings support the need for targeted preventive measures, strategic allocation of rehabilitation resources, and the development of multidisciplinary care models.

Relevance: The findings of the study provide key evidence for optimizing resource allocation, developing prevention strategies, and strengthening multidisciplinary care models. This research contributes to improving public policy planning and the quality of rehabilitation services.