ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1629616
This article is part of the Research TopicClimate Change, Air Pollution, and Health Inequality: Vulnerability of Marginalized PopulationsView all 18 articles
Global Trends in Disease Burdens Attributable to Ambient and Household Air Pollution: A Comparative Study of Ten Populous Countries
Provisionally accepted
- Northern Theater Command General Hospital, Shenyang, China
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Abstract: Objectives: To comparatively assess the disease burden attributable to ambient particulate matter (APM) and household air pollution (HAP) across the ten most populous countries between 1990 and 2021. Methods: Data on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and age-standardized DALY rates (ASDRs) attributable to APM and HAP were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was used to evaluate temporal trends. Quadratic regression models were applied to examine associations between socio-demographic index (SDI) and disease burden. Results: From 1990 to 2021, global APM-related DALYs increased while ASDRs declined. In contrast, both DALYs and ASDRs attributable to HAP decreased markedly. Older adults experienced the highest APM-related burden, whereas children under five were most affected by HAP. Gender differences were also observed, with males generally showing higher burdens. SDI was strongly associated with HAP-related ASDRs (R² = 0.88) but weakly associated with APM (R² = 0.19). Conclusions: Significant disparities in air pollution-related disease burdens exist across countries and demographic groups. Clean energy policies, strengthened environmental regulations, and targeted interventions are essential to mitigate health impacts and advance global public health equity. Keywords: Ambient particulate matter, Household air pollution, Disability-adjusted life years, Socio-demographic index, Disease burden, Public health
Keywords: Ambient particulate matter, Household air pollution, Disability-adjusted life years, sociodemographic index, disease burden, Public Health
Received: 16 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Feng, Wang, Meng and Fang. 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: Yue Fang, Northern Theater Command General Hospital, Shenyang, China
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