Long-term trends in the burden of inflammatory bowel disease in China over three decades: A joinpoint regression and age-period-cohort analysis based on GBD 2019

Background To study the corresponding strategies to control inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a comprehensive assessment of the disease burden is required. Herein, we present long-term trends in the burden of IBD in China over the last three decades, as well as its epidemiological features. Methods We characterized the burden of IBD in China using the GBD 2019 methods and results, based on prevalence, incidence, mortality, years lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) estimated using the DisMod-MR 2-1. We also used joinpoint and age-period-cohort (apc) analysis methods to interpret IBD epidemiological characteristics and compare them to global prevalence trends. Results The age-standardized incidence and mortality rates in both sexes changed from 1.47 (95% CI: 1.24, 1.74) to 3.01 (95% CI: 2.59, 3.50) and from 0.86 (95% CI: 0.59, 1.16) to 0.30 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.35) per 100,000 people in China from 1990 to 2019. The age-standardized DALY rate in China decreased from 24.47 (95% CI: 17.88, 30.19) per 100,000 people in 1990 to 13.10 (95% CI: 10.29, 16.31) per 100,000 people in 2019. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) in age-standardized incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates for IBD in China were 2.51 (95% CI: 2.44, 2.57), 2.53 (95% CI: 2.41, 2.66), and −3.62 (95% CI: −3.85, −3.39). The effects of age, period, and cohort on incidence and mortality rates differed. Conclusions The increasing age-standardized prevalence rates are contributed to by the reduction in age-standardized mortality rates and DALYs, compounded by the rise in the age-standardized incidence rates between 1990 and 2019 in China. The burden of IBD in China will be a major public health challenge, given the country's large population base and aging population.