{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T12:50:53Z","timestamp":1780318253325,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,24]],"date-time":"2025-02-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740355200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The present study tries to evaluate and summarize the available evidence to provide insights into the COVID-19 burden worldwide using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and compare the level of damage across countries during this pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method<\/jats:title><jats:p>We conducted a systematic review following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to investigate the global burden of COVID-19. Studies were identified through searches conducted on Ovid Medline, Cochrane, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed databases as well as, the Google Scholar search engine. All stages of the search, study selection, qualitative assessment, and data extraction were carried out by two authors separately. Any disagreement among reviewers was resolved by discussion.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The total DALYs incurred by COVID-19 varied widely among nations, with rates per 100,000 population ranging from approximately 5 in Korea to 5,363 in the US. Deaths due to COVID-19 could substantially impact years of life lost (YLLs), emerging as a major contributing factor to DALYs. Furthermore, unlike in high-income countries, a significant proportion of YLLs in low- and middle-income countries is associated with individuals dying at younger ages. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were also identified as a minor contributing factor to DALY estimates associated with COVID-19.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our findings from this investigation provide valuable insights into the impacts of COVID-19 on global health that may be an important basis for assessing its global burden, facilitating international comparisons, and allocating efforts to manage the epidemic. However, challenges persist in identifying and quantifying the economic costs and non-health effects of the event on an international scale.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1401726","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,24]],"date-time":"2025-02-24T06:46:40Z","timestamp":1740379600000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["The burden of COVID-19 based on disability-adjusted life years: a systematic review of available evidence"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Eshagh","family":"Barfar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Behzad","family":"Raei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salman","family":"Daneshi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatemeh","family":"Bagher Barahouei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kiavash","family":"Hushmandi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jval.2020.12.009","article-title":"Disease burden attributable to the first wave of COVID-19 in China and the effect of timing on the cost-effectiveness of movement restriction policies","volume":"24","author":"Zhao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Value Health"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"302","DOI":"10.30699\/jambs.29.136.302","article-title":"Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients studied by Jiroft University of Medical Sciences: southeast of Iran","volume":"29","author":"Rezabeigi-Davarani","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Adv Med Biomed Res"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.30699\/jambs.28.131.304","article-title":"Economic consequences of COVID-19 in the middle East and North Africa region countries","volume":"28","author":"Hashemi-Shahri","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Adv Med Biomed Res"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3504","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-83040-3","article-title":"Years of life lost to COVID-19 in 81 countries","volume":"11","author":"Pifarr\u00e9","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4233","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17124233","article-title":"Impact of the burden of COVID-19 in Italy: results of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and productivity loss","volume":"17","author":"Nurchis","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2454","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-06505-z","article-title":"Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to the direct health impact of COVID-19 in India, 2020","volume":"12","author":"Singh","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3346\/jkms.2020.35.e199","article-title":"The burden of disease due to COVID-19 in Korea using disability-adjusted life years","volume":"35","author":"Min-Woo","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Korean Med Sci"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1604699","DOI":"10.3389\/ijph.2022.1604699","article-title":"Estimating the Direct Disability-Adjusted Life Years Associated With SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in the Republic of Ireland: The First Full Year. 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