Global disease burden and trends of leukemia attributable to occupational risk from 1990 to 2019: An observational trend study

BACKGROUND: Leukemia caused by occupational risk is a problem that needs more attention and remains to be solved urgently, especially for acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL). However, there is a paucity of literature on this issue. We aimed to assess the global burden and trends of leukemia attributable to occupational risk from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: This observational trend study was based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database, the global deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which were calculated to quantify the changing trend of leukemia attributable to occupational risk, were analyzed by age, year, geographical location, and socio-demographic index (SDI), and the corresponding estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) values were calculated. RESULTS: Global age-standardized DALYs and death rates of leukemia attributable to occupational risk presented significantly decline trends with EAPC [−0.38% (95% CI: −0.58 to −0.18%) for DALYs and −0.30% (95% CI: −0.45 to −0.146%) for death]. However, it was significantly increased in people aged 65–69 years [0.42% (95% CI: 0.30–0.55%) for DALYs and 0.38% (95% CI: 0.26–0.51%) for death]. At the same time, the age-standardized DALYs and death rates of ALL, AML, and CLL were presented a significantly increased trend with EAPCs [0.78% (95% CI: 0.65–0.91%), 0.87% (95% CI: 0.81–0.93%), and 0.66% (95% CI: 0.51–0.81%) for DALYs, respectively, and 0.75% (95% CI: 0.68–0.82%), 0.96% (95% CI: 0.91–1.01%), and 0.55% (95% CI: 0.43–0.68%) for death], respectively. The ALL, AML, and CLL were shown an upward trend in almost all age groups. CONCLUSION: We observed a substantial reduction in leukemia due to occupational risks between 1990 and 2019. However, the people aged 65–69 years and burdens of ALL, AML, and CLL had a significantly increased trend in almost all age groups. Thus, there remains an urgent need to accelerate efforts to reduce leukemia attributable to occupational risk-related death burden in this population and specific causes.