Zuniga, YMHZumla, AZuhlke, LJZoladl, MZiaeian, BZhong, CZhao, XJGZhang, ZJZhang, JZepro, NBZenebe, GAZeitoun, JDZegeye, ZBZastrozhin, MSZareshahrabadi, ZZarea, KDehnavi, AZZare, IZangiabadian, MZangeneh, AZamora, NZaman, SBZaki, NZakaryaei, FZahir, MTajrishi, FZZadnik, VZadey, SYusefi, HYousefinezhadi, TYousefi, ZYounis, MZYou, YYonemoto, NYon, DKYisihak, EYip, PYiğit, VYiğit, AYi, SYe, PYazdanpanah, FYaya, SYano, YYang, LYamagishi, KYamada, TJabbari, SHYYahya, GATYYaghoubi, SXu, XXu, SXu, HXie, YXiao, HWulandari, RDWIWubetie, GAWu, AMWoolf, ADWolfe, CDAWoldemariam, MTsadik, DSWWoday, ATWickramasinghe, NDWiangkham, TWesterman, RWen, YFWei, MYWaris, AWard, PWang, ZWang, YPWang, YWang, YVu, LGVolovici, VVo, BVlassov, VVishwanath, PMViolante, FSVillafañe, JHVervoort, DVeroux, MVerma, MVenketasubramanian, NVaziri, SVasic, MVasankari, TJVarughese, SVart, PVarma, RPVardavas, CVan den Eynde, JValizadeh, RValdez, PRTahbaz, SVVakilian, AVacante, MUpadhyay, EUnnikrishnan, B2025-06-272025-06-272025Nature Communications, ISSN: 2041-1723 (Print); 2041-1723 (Online), Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 16(1), 4235-4235. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x2041-17232041-1723http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19405Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic care, while 27% were due to acute care. Chronic care needs increased with age, representing 86% of YLDs and 71% of YLLs, and accounting for 93% of YLDs from sequelae. These findings highlight that chronic care needs far exceed acute care needs globally, necessitating health systems to adapt accordingly.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health SciencesBurden of Illness7.1 Individual care needs3 Good Health and Well BeingHumansChronic DiseaseFemaleMaleGlobal Burden of DiseaseMiddle AgedAgedAdultDisability-Adjusted Life YearsYoung AdultAged, 80 and overHealth Services Needs and DemandAdolescentAcute DiseasePersons with DisabilitiesChildChild, PreschoolInfantCost of IllnessHumansAcute DiseaseChronic DiseaseCost of IllnessAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overMiddle AgedChildChild, PreschoolInfantHealth Services Needs and DemandFemaleMaleYoung AdultGlobal Burden of DiseaseDisability-Adjusted Life YearsPersons with DisabilitiesHumansChronic DiseaseFemaleMaleGlobal Burden of DiseaseMiddle AgedAgedAdultDisability-Adjusted Life YearsYoung AdultAged, 80 and overHealth Services Needs and DemandAdolescentAcute DiseasePersons with DisabilitiesChildChild, PreschoolInfantCost of IllnessJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x