Chronic Disease in China: Geographic and Socioeconomic Determinants Among Persons Aged 60 and Older

This study aimed to reveal the epidemic characteristics of chronic diseases among the Chinese older population and provide empirical strategies for the prevention and management of chronic diseases in the seniors in China.A national cross-sectional study.A total of 224,640 Chinese residents aged 60 and older were invited, and 222,179 (98.9%) participated in our survey.Standardized questionnaires were used to collect socioeconomic information and self-reported physician-diagnosed chronic diseases. The associations between individual socioeconomic status and chronic diseases were estimated using generalized linear mixed-effects models.The national prevalence of any chronic diseases was 81.1% (95% CI 80.9-81.2), representing 179.9 million Chinese older adults. The prevalence increased with aging and peaked at 80 to 84 years old (87.2, 95% CI 86.7-87.7), this is consistent with studies in developing countries. Women (84.2, 84.0-84.4), rural residents (82.6, 82.4-82.8), and ethnic minorities (82.2, 81.5-82.8) had a higher prevalence than men (77.7, 77.4-77.9), urban residents (79.7, 79.5-79.9), and people of Han ethnicity (81.0, 80.8-81.2), respectively. For provincial prevalence, Tibet had the highest prevalence of chronic diseases (91.8, 91.5-92.0), and Fujian had the lowest (72.7, 72.5-72.9). The absolute differences between the highest and lowest provinces for the specific chronic condition ranged from 2.78% for cancer to 36.3% for cardiovascular diseases.Chronic diseases were highly prevalent among older adults in China and varied geographically. Advanced socioeconomic status appeared to have double-edged impacts on the prevalence of chronic diseases. Our findings support that reducing gender and geographic disparities should be prioritized in China's chronic disease prevention and management, and an affordable long-term care services system for older adults should be established urgently in China.