Global, regional and national burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over a 30‐year period: Estimates from the 1990 to 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease. This study investigated the global, regional and country burden of COPD based on gender, age and socio‐demographic indices (SDIs) in the last 30‐year period from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: The COPD data, including incidence, mortality and disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs), were obtained from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study. If age‐standardized incidence rate (ASIR) or death rate (ASDR) remains almost constant or decreases, the number of cases will still increase as the global population increases substantially. Estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to assess incidence, mortality and DALY trends. RESULTS: The incidence of COPD increased by 85.89% from 8,722,966 cases in 1990 to 16,214,828 cases in 2019, and the ASIR decreased from 216.48/100,000 persons in 1990 (95%UI, 204.56–227.33) to 200.49 per 100,000 persons (95%UI, 188.63–212.57) in 2019. The ASIR increased (EAPC = 0.05, 95%CI, 0.01–0.10) in the low SDI region, was stable in the high SDI region, and fell in the other three SDI regions. Men had a higher ASIR than women over the past 30 years, and there were differences in the incidence rates for different age groups. Male mortality and DALYs were higher than female mortality. ASDR decreased by 2.13% (95%CI, −2.23% to −2.02%) per year and the annual age‐standardized DALY rate decreased by 1.97% (95%CI, −2.05% to −1.89%). CONCLUSIONS: The ASIR, ASDR and age‐standardized DALY rate of COPD declined overall in the last 30 years, and were highest in the low‐middle SDI region.