JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) collects and calculates risk-outcome data for modifiable lifestyle exposures (e.g. dietary intake) and physical health outcomes (e.g. cancers). These estimates form a critical digital resource tool, the GBD VizHub Data visualization tool, for governments and policy makers to guide local, regional, and global health decisions. Despite evidence showing the contributions of lifestyle exposures to common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, the GBD does not currently generate these lifestyle exposure-mental disorder outcome pairings. This gap is due to a lack of uniformly collected and analysed data about these exposures as they relate to common mental disorders. Such data are required to quantify whether, and to what degree, the global burden of common mental disorders could be reduced by targeting lifestyle factors at regional and global levels. We have established the Global burden of disease Lifestyle And mental Disorder (GLAD) Taskforce to address this gap.

Objective:

Our primary aim is to generate the necessary estimates to afford inclusion of lifestyle exposures as risk factors for common mental disorders in the GBD study and the GBD digital visualization tools, initially focusing on the relationship between dietary intake and common mental disorders.

Methods:

The GLAD Project is a multi-centre, collaborative effort to integrate lifestyle exposures as risk factors for common mental disorders in the GBD study. To achieve this aim, global epidemiological studies will be recruited to conduct harmonised data analyses estimating the risk, odds or hazards of lifestyle exposures with common mental disorder outcomes. Initially, these models will focus on the relationship between dietary intake, as defined by the GBD, and anxiety and depression. Results from individual member studies will then be meta-analysed and used to inform the GBD study and GBD online platform.

Results:

As of August 2024, 18 longitudinal cohort studies from 9 countries (Australia N=4, Brazil N=1, France N=1, Italy N=3, The Netherlands N=3, New Zealand N=1, South Africa N=1, Spain N=1, United Kingdom N=3) have agreed to participate in the GLAD Project.

Conclusions:

Our comprehensive, collaborative approach allows for concurrent execution of a harmonized statistical analysis protocol across multiple, internationally renowned epidemiological cohorts. These results will be used to inform the GBD study and incorporate lifestyle risk factors for common mental disorder in the GBD digital platform. Consequently, given the worldwide influence of the GBD study, findings from the GLAD Project can offer valuable insights to policymakers around the globe around lifestyle-based mental health care. Clinical Trial: The GLAD Project and the following methods have been prospectively registered on Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ZBG6X)