ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Aging and Public Health

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1598092

This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Environmental Factors on Healthy Aging: Behavioral Pathways and Health OutcomesView all 14 articles

Global Burden Trends and Future Predictions of Ischemic Heart Disease Attributable to Air Pollution in People Aged 60 Years and Older, 1990-2021

Provisionally accepted
Yuanqin ZhaoYuanqin Zhao1,2*Liu LihuiLiu Lihui1,2Wei FanWei Fan1,2Man QiMan Qi3,4,5,6Bin LiaoBin Liao1,2
  • 1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Metabolic Vascular Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of cardiovascular remodeling and dysfunction, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
  • 2Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, Ministry of Education & Medical Electrophysiological Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, (Collaborative Innovation Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases), Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Southwest Medical University, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
  • 3Chinese PLA General Hospital, College of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of OTIR, Beijing, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 5Department of Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
  • 6State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases and Medical Innovation Center, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

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Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading cause of death and disability in older adults, with air pollution (AP) significantly contributing to the burden. Using data from the GBD 2021 study, we analyzed IHD burden attributable to AP in individuals aged ≥60 from 1990 to 2021 across age, sex, region, and Sociodemographic Index (SDI) groups. Despite declining age-standardized rates (ASRs), absolute deaths, DALYs, YLDs, and YLLs increased, especially among older age groups and males. High-income and high-SDI regions showed sharper ASR declines, while low- and middle-SDI areas experienced higher and more persistent burdens, particularly in East and South Asia. China and India accounted for over half of the global burden. BAPC model projections suggest a continued rise in absolute burden through 2036 despite declining ASRs. Findings underscore the need for targeted public health policies to reduce AP exposure, strengthen healthcare systems in vulnerable regions, and address sex- and age-specific risks among older populations.

Keywords: Elderly population1, Global Burden of Disease2, Ischemic heart disease3, Air Pollution4, Risk factor5

Received: 22 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Lihui, Fan, Qi and Liao. 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: Yuanqin Zhao, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Metabolic Vascular Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of cardiovascular remodeling and dysfunction, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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