ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1614389
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Environmental Factors on Healthy Aging: Behavioral Pathways and Health OutcomesView all 13 articles
Global and Regional Burden of Nasopharyngeal Cancer in Older Adults Attributable to Smoking and High Alcohol Use from 1990 to 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ziyang Central Hospital, Ziyang, China, 641300., Ziyang, China
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, Ziyang Central Hospital, Ziyang, China, 641300, Ziyang, China
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Background: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) poses a considerable global health burden, with behavioral risk factors such as smoking and high alcohol use contributing to disparities across socio-demographic groups. The growing aging population faces heightened vulnerability to NPC due to prolonged exposure to these modifiable risks, yet comprehensive analyses of aging-specific burden patterns remain limited.Methods: Utilizing Global Burden of Disease 2021 data, we conducted a systematic evaluation of NPC burden attributable to smoking and alcohol use across 204 countries from 1990-2021. Age-stratified analyses focused on older adults (≥60 years), incorporating three analytical dimensions: Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles;sex-specific disparities; geospatial heterogeneity. Age-standardized mortality (ASMR) and age-standardized DALY rates (ASDR) were calculated with 95% uncertainty intervals. Temporal trends were quantified via estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC). Bayesian age-period-cohort modeling projected disease burden through 2050.Results: From 1990 to 2021, smoking and high alcohol use contributed substantially to the NPC burden globally, with older adults exhibiting distinct risk profiles. Smoking-related burden declines in global ASDR were observed, yet older adults in low-and middle-SDI regions retained disproportionately high rates.Alcohol-related burden rise trends in certain regions (e.g., Southeast Asia, Caribbean) were particularly pronounced among older age groups. Middle and high-middle SDI regions consistently exhibited the highest ASDR for both risk factors, with older adults contributing a significant share of DALYs. Older males in older adults faced the highest DALY burdens, with extreme older male-to-female disparities persisting across age groups. Population aging is projected to amplify absolute DALY burdens among older adults by 2050.Behavioral risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use remain key contributors to the burden of nasopharyngeal cancer in older persons, with significant regional, gender, and demographic differences. There is an urgent need to develop targeted public health policies focusing on smoking cessation and alcohol control that take into account the health needs of older persons.
Keywords: healthy aging, nasopharyngeal cancer, Smoking Use, alcohol use, GBD
Received: 18 Apr 2025; Accepted: 20 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Luo and Song. 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: Xin Song, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ziyang Central Hospital, Ziyang, China, 641300., Ziyang, China
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