In 2019, across the Americas, 366 million people (188 million women and 178 million men) had health conditions that would benefit from rehabilitation at some point during the course of their disease contributing to 46 million YLDs.
The number of people who may benefit from rehabilitation has increased by 58% from 231 million in 1990. The increase was higher in women (61%) than in men (56%).
The age-standardized prevalence and YLD rates showed modest declines since 1990, indicating that the large increase in cases is due to population growth and population aging.
The age-standardized prevalence rate (per 100,000 population) varied from 35.9 thousand cases in the United States of America to 26.8 thousand cases in Bolivia. Across all ages, the crude prevalence rate (per 100,000 population) ranged from 45.5 thousand cases in the United States of America to 23.5 thousand cases in Bolivia.
The countries with the highest prevalence of people with conditions amenable to rehabilitation are: The United States of America, Haiti, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Canada.
The countries with the lowest prevalence of people with conditions amenable to rehabilitation are: Dominica, Peru, United States Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Bolivia (Plurinational State of). It should be noted, however, that even in these countries, prevalence is still high with at least 1 in 4 people having a potential need for rehabilitation in all countries.
The likelihood of having a rehabilitation need increases exponentially with age. Musculoskeletal disorders (such as back and neck pain, fractures, and arthritis) and sensory impairments (such as vision or hearing loss) are the two most frequent groups of conditions by age.
Across the Americas in 2019, the five most common individual conditions amenable to rehabilitation were low back pain, osteoarthritis, fractures, hearing loss, and other injuries.
Regionwide in 2019, the top five leading individual conditions amenable to rehabilitation contributing to YLD rate were: Low back pain, osteoarthritis, fractures, neck pain, and hearing loss.
