The overall burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) decreased from 1990 to 2019 in China, with age and hospitalization days among the most significant factors, according to study findings published in Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease.
Investigators conducted a systematic review to quantify the burden of COPD in the Chinese population and compare the differences in patients’ ages and sex.
A literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANGFANG Data, and VIP databases from inception to December 31, 2022. The analysis included 45 articles (39 in Chinese and 6 in English).
The analysis indicated that overall COPD burden in China had a decreasing trend from 1990 to 2019. The total number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) resulting from COPD in China decreased from 26.12 million person-years to 19.92 million person-years in the 30-year period, with an annual reduced rate of 0.9%. In 2017, the DALYs were 20.41 million person-years, which accounted for 5.5% of the total DALYs in China (371.4 million person-years) and ranked third among 169 disease categories and was 1 place lower than in 2005.
“
The economic burden of COPD lacks standardized indicators, as cost items included in various studies are different and there is a lack of unified methods used to measure costs.
The peak loss in DALYs from COPD occurred had in patients aged 80 years and older. The main burden of COPD was observed in those aged 40 years and older, with male patients generally having a higher burden compared with female patients. The overall intensity of disease burden in patients with COPD also was higher in rural areas vs urban areas.
Based on 15 studies that provided data on the cost of disease in patients with COPD, the median direct medical cost of COPD ranged from $150 to $2014 per capita per year, and the median indirect medical COPD cost ranged from $0 to $184 per capita per year.
Information on the variables affecting patients’ economic burden was reported in 14 studies. The leading factors that affected the economic burden of patients with COPD included age (10 studies), hospital length of stay (8 studies), hospital type (6 studies), sex (6 studies), and career (6 studies).
Among several limitations, the data sources and outcome indicators in the studies were not uniform, and in some studies the diagnoses were not confirmed by spirometry.
“The economic burden of COPD lacks standardized indicators, as cost items included in various studies are different and there is a lack of unified methods used to measure costs,” the study authors stated. “Some studies employ the mean value, while others utilize the median. It is hoped that researchers can create standardized indicators and unified evaluation methods to assess the economic burden.”
