Abstract
Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 4235 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2025.
Funding
This research was funded by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust as part of the Addressing the Challenge and Constraints of Insulin Sources and Supply (ACCISS) Study. Statements and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. All references and conclusions are intended for educational and informative purposes and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. O O Adetokunboh acknowledges support from the Department of Science and Innovation at the National Research Foundation, the Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. J M Acuna acknowledges support from American University of Antigua. A Ahmad acknowledges support from Shaqra University. K Ahmadi acknowledges support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Applied Research Collaboration (ARC), Northwest London (the views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care). S Alian Samakkhah acknowledges support from the Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies. S M Alif acknowledges support from The University of Melbourne and Monash University. S M Aljunid acknowledges support from the Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, International Medical University, Malaysia and International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia for the approval and support to participate in this research project. S Almustanyir acknowledges support from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) for the global health research initiatives at the University of Washington. J H Amuasi acknowledges support from Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. A Badawi acknowledges support from the Public Health Agency of Canada. I Banerjee acknowledges support from Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Medical College in Belle Rive, Mauritius. S Barteit acknowledges support from the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital, Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany. H Benzian acknowledges support from Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study (STIAS), in Stellenbosch, South Africa. A N Bhat, J R Padubidi, A Shetty, B S K Shetty, and B Unnikrishnan acknowledge support from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. M K Boachie acknowledges support from the Discipline of Public Health Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. L C Brant acknowledges support from CNPq (307329/2022-4). T Brugha acknowledges support from The University of Leicester Department of Population Health Sciences and the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, United Kingdom. L A Cámera acknowledges support from the Sociedad Argentina de Medicina. M Cross acknowledges support from the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health. G Damiani acknowledges support from the Italian Center of Precisione Medicine and Chronic Inflammation. R P Dellavalle acknowledges support from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which in no way endorses the content of the manuscript. S Dey acknowledges support from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) for the Institute Chair Fellowship. G M T ElGohary acknowledges support from the Ain Shams University, Faculty Of Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Adult Hematology Department in Cairo, Egypt. W Etafa acknowledges support from the Institute of Health Sciences, Wallaga University. A Fatehizadeh acknowledges support from the Department of Environmental Health Engineering of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Isfahan, Iran. V L Feigin acknowledges support from Auckland University of Technology. J C Glasbey acknowledges support from a UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lectureship. A Halimi acknowledges support from the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences in Tehran, Iran. N E Ismail acknowledges institutional support from Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST University), Malaysia. J S Ji acknowledges support from Tsinghua University International Cooperation Special Project of Initiative Scientific Research Program. N Joseph acknowledges support from the Department of Community Medicine at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education in Manipal, India. H Kandel acknowledges support from the Kornhauser Research Fellowship at The University of Sydney. M N Khatib acknowledges support from the Global Consortium for Public Health Research, Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education and Research. S L Koulmane Laxminarayana acknowledges support from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. M Kumar acknowledges support from K43 TW010716-05s1. I Landires acknowledges support from the Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SNI) which is supported by Panamá’s Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT). K Latief acknowledges support from Taipei Medical University during the conduct of this review. G Liu acknowledges support from the Lung Foundation Australia. M A Mahmoud acknowledges support from Taibah University to participate in this research project. P Maulik acknowledges support from the George Institute for Global Health and University of New South Wales. S Mohammed acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation. M Molokhia acknowledges support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Center at Guy’s and St Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust, King’s College London, and NIHR grant NIHR202769. A R Pathan acknowledges support from Author Gates Publications. P Pedersini acknowledges support from the Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Corrente 2023. V C Pepito acknowledges support from Ateneo de Manila University. Z Z Piracha acknowledges support from the International Center of Medical Sciences Research (ICMSR), Islamabad (44000) Pakistan. R V Polibin acknowledges support from the Department of Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, F. Erismann Institute of Public Health, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University). I Qattea acknowledges support from the Nassau University Medical Center. Z Quazi Syed acknowledges support from Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education and Research. A Rahman acknowledges support from the Data Science Research Unit at Charles Sturt University. E M M Redwan acknowledges support from King Abdulaziz University (DSR) in Jeddah, and King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACSAT) in Saudi Arabia, Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF), and US-Egypt Science & Technology Joint Fund, and The Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), in Egypt. B Reshmi acknowledges support from Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. U Saeed acknowledges support from the International Center of Medical Sciences Research (ICMSR) in Islamabad, Pakistan. A M Samy acknowledges support from Ain Shams University and the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. R K Saroj acknowledges support from the School of Computational and Integrative Sciences (SC&IS), Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. H R Shahsavari acknowledges support from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) Research Council. K S Shaji acknowledges support from Kerala University of Health Sciences in Kerala, India. M Shanawaz acknowledges support from Jazan University. P H Shetty acknowledges support from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy Of Higher Education, Manipal, India. A Sheikh acknowledges support from Health Data Research UK. A Singh acknowledges support from the International Graduate Research Scholarship, University of Tasmania. D A Sleet acknowledges support from Bizzell Global, LLC. M Tabish acknowledges support from the Scientific Research Unit at Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. M Taheri acknowledges support from the Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. G W Tesema acknowledges support from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Nih Thomas acknowledges support from the Christian Medical College Vellore. M R Tovani-Palone acknowledges support from the Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and SRM Institute of Science and Technology. Sai Ullah acknowledges support from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. J H Villafañe acknowledges support and funding from the Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Corrente 2023. H Xiao acknowledges support from the Public Health Sciences Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. S Yaghoubi acknowledges support from the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences in Neyshabur, Iran.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Medical College | |
| Lung Foundation Australia | |
| Kerala University of Health Sciences in Kerala | |
| Department of Forensic | |
| Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences in Tehran | |
| KACSAT | |
| Italian Center of Precisione Medicine and Chronic Inflammation | |
| Taibah University | |
| International Medical University | |
| School of Computational and Integrative Sciences | |
| Taipei Medical University | |
| Public Health Agency of Canada | |
| Academy of Scientific Research and Technology | |
| University of Technology at Sydney | |
| Pennington Biomedical Research Center | |
| Health Data Research UK | |
| Christian Medical College, Vellore | |
| Sistema Nacional de Investigadores | |
| Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University | |
| Nassau University Medical Center | |
| NIHR Clinical Research Network North West London | |
| Ateneo de Manila University | |
| Larkin Health Sciences Institute | |
| Tsinghua University | |
| SC | |
| Isfahan University of Medical Sciences | |
| Department of Food Hygiene | |
| Applied Research Collaboration | |
| Federal University of Agriculture, Abeoukuta | |
| University of Leicester | |
| Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal, India | |
| Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia | |
| University of Melbourne | |
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | |
| Global Consortium for Public Health Research | |
| Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, Zanjan | |
| Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | |
| Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine | |
| Basic Medical Sciences Department | |
| Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología | |
| SRM Institute of Science and Technology | |
| Inyuvesi Yakwazulu-Natali | |
| Guy's and St. Thomas' Foundation Trust | |
| Amol University of Technology | |
| Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus | |
| University of Tasmania | |
| Ain-Shams University | |
| Shaqra University | |
| Ministero della Salute | |
| Sociedad Argentina de Medicina and Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires | |
| Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand | |
| Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education and Research | |
| Author Gates Publications | |
| Heidelberg Institute of Global Health | |
| Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust | |
| Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences | |
| Heidelberg University | |
| Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study | |
| Shahid Beheshti University | |
| King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology | |
| Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology | |
| Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation | |
| LIFE‐DSR | |
| Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin | |
| U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | |
| Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust | |
| Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación | |
| The George Washington University | |
| Danish National Research Foundation | |
| Adult Hematology Department | |
| Department of Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, F. Erismann Institute of Public Health | |
| US-Egypt Science & Technology joint Fund | |
| King Abdulaziz University | |
| Jazan University | |
| University of New South Wales | |
| American University | |
| Science and Technology Development Fund | |
| Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences | |
| Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung | |
| Universiteit Stellenbosch | |
| Wallaga University | |
| The George Institute for Global Health | |
| Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico | 307329/2022-4 |
| Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India | K43 TW010716-05s1 |
| University of London, King's College London, UK | NIHR202769 |
| International Center of Medical Sciences Research (ICMSR) | 44000 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General
- General Physics and Astronomy