Ye Wang, Shao-Jie Chen
The global increase in fungal skin disease cases is driven primarily by population growth and aging rather than rising prevalence. Significant health inequalities exist, with low SDI regions and the Caribbean requiring priority attention.
BACKGROUND: Fungal skin diseases are common worldwide, but a systematic global burden assessment is lacking.Objective To analyze the global, regional, and national burden of fungal skin diseases and trends from 1990 to 2023 using GBD 2023 data.
METHODS: Data on prevalent cases, age-standardized prevalence rates (ASR), and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) were extracted for 204 countries, grouped by Socio-demographic Index (SDI).Results Global prevalent cases rose from 266.5 million to 351.8 million (+32%), while the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASR) remained stable (EAPC=0.03). However, projection data indicate that the age-standardized DALY rate will increase from 25.79 per 100,000 in 2023 to 26.96 per 100,000 in 2035, signaling a potential turning point in the coming decade. Low SDI regions had the highest case growth (+77%) and prevalence (8,060.14/100,000). High SDI regions saw a 4% case decrease and the largest ASR decline (EAPC=-0.77). The Caribbean was the only region with a significant ASR increase (EAPC=0.79). Sub-Saharan Africa and the Persian Gulf showed rising cases but declining ASR, suggesting population growth and migration as drivers.
CONCLUSION: The global increase in fungal skin disease cases is driven primarily by population growth and aging rather than rising prevalence. Significant health inequalities exist, with low SDI regions and the Caribbean requiring priority attention.