Research identifies significant spike in neurological disorders during the covid-19 pandemic

In 2021, neurological diseases affected 3.40 billion individuals worldwide, corresponding to 43.1 % of the global population. In China, rapid demographic shifts and lifestyle changes have contributed to a continued rise in the burden of stroke, dementia, and Parkinson's disease-a trend expected to persist. However, previous studies have largely focused on individual diseases, leaving gaps in understanding the comparative burden across conditions and populations.

A research team led by Professor Yamei Tang from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, analyzed data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021. The study examined the prevalence and burden of 12 neurological disorders in the Chinese mainland from 1990 to 2021, including subgroup analyses by age, sex, region, and modifiable risk factors. The findings were recently published in the Chinese Medical Journal on April 1, 2026.

In 2021, the most prevalent neurological diseases were tension-type headache (19,948.3 per 100,000), migraine (12,985.6 per 100,000), and ischemic stroke (1,462.2 per 100,000). The leading causes of death were intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) (93.0 per 100,000), ischemic stroke (82.7 per 100,000), and dementia (34.6 per 100,000). In terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), ICH (1,930.3 per 100,000), ischemic stroke (1,646.8 per 100,000), and dementia (708.0 per 100,000) ranked highest.

Between 1990 and 2021, prevalence increased for most disorders except idiopathic epilepsy. Parkinson's disease showed the fastest growth (544.1%), followed by dementia (249.1%) and ischemic stroke (161.5%). Based on DALY rates, dementia increased most rapidly (208.2%), followed by Parkinson's disease (160.7%) and ischemic stroke (95.2%). Notably, between 2019 and 2021, several neurological disorders-including dementia, idiopathic epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and tension-type headache-showed sharp increases in prevalence. Joinpoint analysis identified a significant turning point in age-standardized prevalence rates during this period, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.