ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1583895
The disease burden of pneumoconiosis in China from 1990 to 2021 and projection to 2050 based on GBD 2021: a cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
Xiangwen Gong1
Kaiwang Cui1
Zhi Liu1Yongtong Tang1
Jin Bo Li1Youmei Chen1Zhangshun Tu2Miaomiao Yuan2Jianping Liu1*
Haiwu Wu1*- 1Ganzhou Fifth People's Hospital, Ganzhou, China
- 2Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China
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Background: Pneumoconiosis is a serious occupational disease with high incidence and prevalence in China. This study aimed to describe the long-term trends in the burden of pneumoconiosis and its epidemiological characteristics in China over the past 30 years.Methods: Data from this cross-sectional study were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study. Joinpoint was used to calculate the annual average percentage change (AAPC), and age-period-cohort (APC) analyses were used to assess trends in the burden of pneumoconiosis. The Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) model was used to forecast pneumoconiosis burden from 2022 to 2050.Results: From 1990--2021, the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and mortality rate (ASMR) of pneumoconiosis in China declined from 2.2 (1.83, 2.59) to 1.42 (1.21, 1.63) and from 0.9 (0.73, 1.09) to 0.41 (0.32, 0.53) cases per 100,000 people. The AAPCs of the ASIR and ASMR were -1.42% and -2.15%, respectively. The age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) and years of life lost (YLL) also decline from 24.32 (20.05, 29.47) to 10.86 (8.49,13.87) and from 22.39 (18.13, 27.51) to 9.38 (7.1, 12.32) years per 100,000 persons. APC analyses revealed that the incidence and mortality risk of pneumoconiosis increased with age, decreased with period, and were greater in the early birth cohort. From 2022 to 2025, the ASIR and ASPR are expected to remain relatively stable, while the ASMR is projected to decline significantly to 0.267/100,000 in 2050.Conclusions: Despite the downward trend in age-standardized disease burden indicators of pneumoconiosis, the burden of pneumoconiosis remains heavy due to the large occupational population in China.
Keywords: Pneumoconiosis, Global burden of disease, Epidemiologic Studies, China, Cross-sectional study
Received: 26 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gong, Cui, Liu, Tang, Li, Chen, Tu, Yuan, Liu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jianping Liu, Ganzhou Fifth People's Hospital, Ganzhou, China
Haiwu Wu, Ganzhou Fifth People's Hospital, Ganzhou, China
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