OBJECTIVETo analyze the disease burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among people aged over 15 years in 1990 and 2010 in China.

METHODSThe estimation of China data for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) was used to analyze the mortality and prevalence as well as the years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) of COPD in China in 1990 and 2010 for Chinese people aged 15 years and above. The death rate and DALY rate of COPD in China in 1990 and 2010 were compared.

RESULTSIn 2010, 0.934 million people (0.534 million men and 0.400 million women) aged over 15 years died from COPD, decreased 34.5% (24.3% for men and 44.4% for women) compared with that in 1990 (1.425 million with 0.705 million men and 0.720 million women). There were 41.764 million COPD patients in 2010 (22.111 million men and 19.653 million women), increased 42.1% (41.7% for men and 42.6% for women) compared with 1990 (29.382 million patients with 15.599 million men and 13.783 million women). The mortality rate of COPD decreased for 61.5% from 2.352/100 000 in 1990 to 90.5/100 000 in 2010. The prevalence rate of COPD was 4.2% and 3.9% in 1990 and 2010, respectively. The DALY, YLL and YLD due to COPD was 16.598, 12.946, and 3.652 million person years, respectively in 2010. The YLD increased 42.3% compared with 1990 (2.567 million person years). From 1990 to 2010, the age-standardized DALY rate, YLL rate and YLD rate decreased from 4 120.1/100 000 to 1 575.9/100 000, from 3 756.9/100 000 to 1 235.6/100 000 and from 363.2/100 000 to 340.3/100 000, respectively.

CONCLUSIONAlthough there was significant decrease of DALY due to COPD in 2010, compared to 1990, the YLD burden is still increasing.