ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Environmental Factors on the Health of Children and Older Adults, Volume IIView all 5 articles
Global, regional, and national burden of otitis media in neonates attributable to PM2.5 air pollution: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wushan County People’s Hospital of Chongqing,, Chongqing, China
- 2Wushan County People’s Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, China
- 3The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 4Kaizhou District People's Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, China
- 5The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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Background: Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may increase the risk of otitis media (OM) in neonates. However, the global burden of neonatal OM attributable to PM2.5 remains poorly understood. This study aims to assess the burden and epidemiological trends of OM in neonates (0–28 days old) attributable to PM2.5 from 1990 to 2021. Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, we estimated the number and rates of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) for PM2.5-attributable OM in neonates, stratified by sex, socio-demographic index (SDI), regions, and countries. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) were used to assess temporal trends. Decomposition analysis was conducted to identify the main drivers of change. Results: Globally, the burden of neonatal OM attributable to PM2.5 declined from 1,363.136 DALYs (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 512.175–2,946.844) in 1990 to 327.396 DALYs (95% UI: 156.269–626.363) in 2021. YLDs also decreased, from 178.925 (95% UI: 82.305–314.825) to 165.301 (95% UI: 75.609–314.563). The burden of neonatal OM attributable to PM2.5 varied substantially across countries and regions, with higher numbers and rates of DALYs and YLDs in less-developed areas, where household PM2.5 remains a significant contributor. Decomposition analysis showed that epidemiological shifts were the primary drivers of global DALYs and YLDs declines, while population aging contributed to increasing burdens in low-SDI regions. Conclusions: Although the global burden of neonatal OM attributable to PM2.5 has declined over the past three decades, it remains a persistent issue, particularly in resource-limited settings. Targeted interventions to reduce PM2.5 exposure—especially from household sources—are urgently needed to address these health disparities.
Keywords: Otitis Media, PM2.5, Air Pollution, neonates, disease burden, GBD
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gong, Xu, Tu, Yuan, Zheng, Song, Rao, Liu and Wang. 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: Deping Wang, wangdepingent@hospital.cqmu.edu.cn
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