To analyze the disease burden and trend of anxiety disorders in adolescents aged 10-24 in China from 1990 to 2021.

Based on the 2021 global burden of disease (GBD) database, the incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate of anxiety disorders in adolescents aged 10-24, along with their corresponding standardized rates, were extracted as indicators of disease burden. With 1990 as the baseline, the overall and gender- and age-specific changes in these indicators in 2021 were analyzed. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to dynamically analyze the changes in these three disease burden indicators from 1990 to 2021. The grey prediction model GM(1,1) was employed to estimate the disease burden trend of anxiety disorders in adolescents over the next decade.

In 2021, incident case number, prevalent case number, and DALYs of anxiety disorders in adolescents were 1 637 600, 10 267 500, and 12 793 000, respectively, which decreased by 30.51%, 33.91%, and 33.59%, as compared with 1990; however, the standardized incidence, standardized prevalence, and standardized DALYs rate of anxiety disorders in adolescents were 451.49/100 000, 3 481.74/100 000, and 418.95/100 000, respectively, which represented an increase of 2.29%, 2.03%, and 2.37%, as compared to 1990; there are differences in the disease burden for anxiety disorders between genders, which were manifested that girls are more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders than boys; and the standardized incidence of anxiety disorders among adolescents between the ages of 10-14 years was higher, while the standardized prevalence and the standardized DALYs rate among them between the ages of 15-19 years were higher. The Joinpoint regression model showed that the standardized incidence, standardized prevalence, and standardized DALYs rate of anxiety disorders in adolescents aged 10-24 increased from 1990 to 2021, with a larger increase from 2019 to 2021. The grey prediction model indicated that by 2031, the standardized incidence, standardized prevalence, and standardized DALYs rate would reach 559.44/100 000, 3 597.01/100 000, and 430.65/100 000, respectively.

The disease burden of anxiety disorders in adolescents aged 10-24 years is concerning, and interventions for anxiety disorders should be performedinadolescents of different genders and ages.