Health inequalities in the global reproductive-age population: GBD 2021 trends and female-male differences, 1990–2021
Abstract
Socioeconomic health inequality among reproductive-age populations remains insufficiently characterized globally. Using GBD 2021 data for individuals aged 15-49 years in 204 countries and territories, we assessed disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates and quantified absolute and relative socioeconomic inequality using the slope index of inequality (SII) and concentration index (CI), with female-male comparisons and sensitivity analyses. In 2021, the global DALY rate was 22,377.4 per 100,000 population. From 1990 to 2021, SII changed from -17,755.23 to -13,789.27 and CI from -0.15 to -0.13. CI for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases improved from -0.51 to -0.38, whereas injury CI worsened from -0.06 to -0.12. Injury SII was -824.23 in females and -2,749.96 in males. Overall socioeconomic health inequality declined but remained heterogeneous across causes and between females and males, supporting cause-specific and sex-sensitive health equity strategies.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026health,
title = {{Health inequalities in the global reproductive-age population: GBD 2021 trends and female-male differences, 1990–2021}},
author = {Xueneng Yang and Ruijuan Li and Wendong Luo},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117804},
url = {https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03185-8},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Health inequalities in the global reproductive-age population: GBD 2021 trends and female-male differences, 1990–2021
AU - Xueneng Yang
AU - Ruijuan Li
AU - Wendong Luo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117804
UR - https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03185-8
AB - Socioeconomic health inequality among reproductive-age populations remains insufficiently characterized globally. Using GBD 2021 data for individuals aged 15-49 years in 204 countries and territories, we assessed disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates and quantified absolute and relative socioeconomic inequality using the slope index of inequality (SII) and concentration index (CI), with female-male comparisons and sensitivity analyses. In 2021, the global DALY rate was 22,377.4 per 100,000 population. From 1990 to 2021, SII changed from -17,755.23 to -13,789.27 and CI from -0.15 to -0.13. CI for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases improved from -0.51 to -0.38, whereas injury CI worsened from -0.06 to -0.12. Injury SII was -824.23 in females and -2,749.96 in males. Overall socioeconomic health inequality declined but remained heterogeneous across causes and between females and males, supporting cause-specific and sex-sensitive health equity strategies.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -