ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1608109
This article is part of the Research TopicMineral Particles and Fibers and Human Health Risks: State-of-the-Art in Characterization, Analysis, Tissue Analytics, Exposure Thresholds for Risk, Epidemiology, and Risk Assessment for Science-Based Regulation and Disease Prevention and Implications for Occupational Health and SafetyView all 17 articles
Global, regional, and national trends in the incidence of pneumoconiosis among populations aged 20 and above from 1990 to 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 2Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 3Yali High School, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
- 4The First Hospital of Changsha, Changsha, China
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Background. Pneumoconiosis remains one of the most critical occupational health hazards globally. Utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021, we have updated the epidemiological trends of pneumoconiosis.Methods. We conducted and analyzed pneumoconiosis-related data from the GBD 2021 study for individuals aged ≥20 years. Our analysis described the incident cases and age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) across various global regions and age groups. Temporal trends were evaluated using Estimated Annual Percentage Change (EAPC) for ASIRs between 1990 and 2021.Results. The ASIR of pneumoconiosis among individuals aged ≥20 years declined globally at an annual average of 0.48% between 1990 and 2021. Except for high socio-demographic index (SDI) regions, the ASIR of pneumoconiosis declined across all other SDI categories. Males had significantly higher incidence rates than females, especially in elderly populations. Silicosis emerged as the predominant type of pneumoconiosis, constituting approximately 56.7% of cases. While the ASIRs for silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and other pneumoconiosis decreased, the ASIRs for asbestosis exhibited a notable upward trend, with an EAPC of 1.21. A strong negative correlation was observed between the EAPC of pneumoconiosis incidence and the 1990 ASIRs values. Notably, the EAPC showed a positively correlation with the 2021 Human Development Index (HDI) values.Conclusion. Despite a gradual global decline in the ASIR of pneumoconiosis, the disease burden remains substantial in certain regions. Our findings could inform governments and policymakers in developing targeted prevention strategies to mitigate this burden. Future strategies should integrate technological innovation with regulatory frameworks, prioritizing male-dominated high-risk sectors through strengthened global asbestos bans and lifetime health surveillance for workers in pneumoconiosis-prone occupations worldwide.
Keywords: Pneumoconiosis, Incidence, Global Burden of Diseases, Age-standardized incidence rate, estimated annual percentage change
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, He, Hu, PAN, Hu, Liao, Wang and Li. 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: Hui Li, The First Hospital of Changsha, Changsha, China
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