Global and national burden and trends of mortality and disability-adjusted life years for silicosis, from 1990 to 2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019

Background: Silicosis, as an important type of pneumoconiosis, leads to progressive and irreversible conditions from the beginning of inflammation and fibrosis. However, the data on the global burden of silicosis and long-term trends were limited.

Methods: Derived from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019 (online publicly available: Global Health Data Exchange), data on both crude and age-standardized rates (ASR) per 100,00 people of mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to silicosis was collected and analyzed. The burden and trends of mortality and DALYs due to silicosis was assessed by 204 countries and territories, by 5-year interval of age group and by sex from 1990 to 2019. And all the regions were divided into 5 categories according to Sociodemographic Index (SDI). Temporal trends in mortality and DALY were evaluated only to ASR by the Joinpoint regression model.

Results: More than 12.9 thousand [95% Uncertainty Intervals (UI): 10.9, 16.2] death cases occurred due to silicosis worldwide, and 655.7 thousand (95% UI: 519.3, 828.0) DALYs were attributed to silicosis in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, global number of mortality and DALYs in countries with high SDI quintile decreased by 0.35% (95% UI: - 0.45, - 0.17) and 0.32% (95% UI: - 0.45, - 0.01), respectively. There was a greater burden in low- and middle-income countries were estimated in 2019 according to ASRs. The global number of mortality and DALYs among males accounted for over 95% of all in 2019. Both age-sex-specific mortality and DALY rate were increasing with aging and reached their peak at 85-89 age group. During the past 30 years, ASR of mortality and DALYs showed a decreasing trend with average annual percentage change at -3.0% [95% Confidence Intervals (CI): - 3.2, - 2.9] and - 2.0 (95% CI: - 1.7, - 2.2), respectively.

Conclusions: Silicosis remains an important health issue and causes a potentially serious burden worldwide. Attention should be paid to making preventable, affordable and effective measures in lower SDI regions.