Cause-specific mortality

GBD studies produce estimates for a limited but exhaustive list of diseases and injuries of public health significance. These are aggregated into three major groups of conditions:

The 1990 GBD study produced estimates for just 107 causes, but more recent studies have worked with a more detailed list of disorders. Within the three major groups of causes, the 2010 GBD study made estimates for 21 second-level causes (such as "tropical infections" or "cardiovascular and circulatory diseases"),  divided into 155 third-level causes (such as "intestinal nematodes" or "stroke") and sometimes into fourth-level causes (such as "hookworm" or "haemorrhagic stroke"). In all, the burden of disease was divided between 241 mutually-exclusive diseases and injuries.