[Disease burden among people aged 70 years or older in countries with different developmental levels from 1990 to...

To examine differences in burden of disease among people aged ≥70 years old in countries with different developmental levels from 1990 to 2016. 
 Methods: The sociodemographic index (SDI) of global burden of disease (GBD) was used to divide 195 countries into five developmental levels: high, high middle, middle, low middle and low. The results of the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2016 (GBD 2016) were extracted to examine disability-adjusted life years (DALY) and the health loss from the top 10 diseases and risk factors among the people aged ≥70 years old in countries with different SDIs. 
 Results: Between 1990 and 2016, the age-standardized DALY rate among people aged ≥70 years old in countries with different SDIs all showed a downward trend. Different decreases in DALY rate in over-seventy old people were observed across countries with different SDI levels: -23.9% in high SDI, -21.3% in high-middle SDI, -23.4% in middle SDI, -18.8% in low-middle SDI and -16.3% in low SDI. In 1990, the age-standardized DALY rate among people aged ≥70 years old in low and low middle SDI countries was 1.67 and 1.49 times of that in high SDI countries; and the gaps rose to 1.83 and 1.59 times in 2016. The DALY rate of the aged people remained remarkably higher in low middle and low SDI countries in 2016, and the gap widened compared with that in 1990. The reduction of age-standardized DALY rate was mainly due to the decrease of years of life lost (YLL). In 2016, low SDI and low-middle SDI countries suffered much higher burden of disease from infectious diseases and chronic non-communicable diseases. Analysis of leading causes and risk factors of DALY showed significant disparities across different SDI countries; burden of disease caused by environmental pollution and adverse health conditions was much higher in the low SDI and lower-middle SDI countries than that in the other countries.
 Conclusion: During 1990-2016, the burden of disease in countries of all 5 SDI levels declined. But the reductions in the developing countries were less than those in the developed countries, widening health disparities for the elderly between low and high SDI countries. International organizations and individual governments should take measures to narrow health gaps among old adults across countries with different developmental levels.