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Asthma mortality among children and adolescents in China, 2008–2018

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Abstract

Background

Asthma mortality among children and adolescents at the national level in China was unreported. The aim of this study was to analyze the mortality of asthma among children and adolescents in China using a nationally representative database.

Methods

This was a descriptive study using data from the Disease Surveillance Points (DSPs) system. All asthma‐related deaths among children and adolescents aged 0–19 years occurring in DSPs across China from 2008 to 2018 were included. Multilevel Poisson regression models were used to compute the total, age-, gender-, region- and residence-specific asthma mortality rates and to investigate the significance of trends and factors associated with asthma mortality. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics were used to estimate the national asthma deaths.

Results

Total asthma mortality rate among Chinese children and adolescents fluctuated between 0.020 (0.009, 0.045) and 0.059 (0.025, 0.137) per 100,000 and showed an overall downward trend (RR, 0.909; 95% CI 0.854–0.968) during the study period (2008–2018). Asthma mortality rate was higher in the western China (RR 2.356, 95% CI 1.513, 3.669) and varied over a ninefold range among DSPs in China. The estimated number of deaths decreased by 51.38% from 2008 (n = 148; 95% CI 58,379) to 2018 (n = 71; 95% CI 34, 109).

Conclusions

Asthma mortality rate among children and adolescents in China was at a low level compared to rates worldwide and decreased significantly from 2008 to 2018. Compared with most countries in the world, the number of asthma deaths was higher in China.

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Data sharing

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The lead author affirms that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported, that no important aspects of the study have been omitted.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by grant from the National Key Research and Development Program of China: Cohort Study of Respiratory Diseases-Children-Adult Asthma Cohort Study in China (2016YFC0901103).

Funding

This project was supported by grant from the National Key Research and Development Program of China: Cohort Study of Respiratory Diseases-Children-Adult Asthma Cohort Study in China (2016YFC0901103). The funders were not involved in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, or in the writing or submitting of this report. The authors had full access to all data and final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Diseases, Respiratory Department, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, No. 56 Nan-Li-Shi Road, Beijing, 100045, China

    Ting-Ting Liu, Ju Yin, Qi Gao, Jing-Jing Qiao & Kun-Ling Shen

  2. National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Diseases, Allergy Department, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing, 100045, China

    Wei Xu

  3. National Center for Chronic and Non-Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China

    Jin-Lei Qi, Peng Yin & Mai-Geng Zhou

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  1. Ting-Ting Liu
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Contributions

KLS obtained funding. KLS and JY, TTL conceived the study. TTL drafted the manuscript, collected, and analyzed the data. JLQ, JY, QG, WX, JJQ, PY, MGZ and KLS revised and approved the final version of the manuscript. The corresponding author attests that all listed authors meet authorship criteria and that no others meeting the criteria have been omitted. KLS is the study guarantor.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kun-Ling Shen.

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Ethical approval

Not required. This study does not contain personal or medical information about an identifiable living individual, and animal subjects were not involved in the study.

Conflict of interest

No financial or non-financial benefits have been received or will be received from any party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. The author Kun-Ling Shen is a member of the Editorial Board for the journal. The paper was handled by the other Editor and has undergone rigorous peer review process. The author Kun-Ling Shen was not involved in the journal’s review of, or decisions related to, this manuscript.

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Liu, TT., Qi, JL., Yin, J. et al. Asthma mortality among children and adolescents in China, 2008–2018. World J Pediatr 18, 598–606 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-022-00548-y

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