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. 2022 Jan 17:12:777654.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.777654. eCollection 2021.

Trends in Diabetes Mortality in Urban and Rural China, 1987-2019: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis

Binbin Su  1 , Yiran Wang  1 , Yanhui Dong  2 , Gang Hu  1 , Yike Xu  3 , Xiaobo Peng  4 , Qianyun Wang  1 , Xiaoying Zheng  1
Affiliations

Trends in Diabetes Mortality in Urban and Rural China, 1987-2019: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis

Binbin Su et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus is emerging as an epidemic worldwide, and the incidence and prevalence of diabetes have drastically changed in China over the past 30 years, but data on its mortality rate are scarce. This study aimed to analyze the time trends of mortality rates among patients with diabetes in the rural and urban population in China between 1987 and 2019.

Methods: The research data come from China's annual report on national health statistics and the Chinese Health Statistics Yearbook. Age-standardized mortality rates were calculated by using the direct method based on the World Standard Population from the WHO. Joinpoint regression analysis was employed to estimate the annual percent change and average annual percentage changes of mortality rates of diabetes mellitus.

Results: An overall trend for increment in diabetes mortality was observed. The crude mortality rates and age-standardized mortality rates of diabetes for urban and rural residents in China showed a significant increasing trend between 1987 and 2019. Mortality due to diabetes in urban areas has been higher than in rural areas for 30 years. However, due to the rapid increase of rural diabetes mortality in the past decade, the gap between the two gradually narrowed. The age-standardized mortality rates of diabetes increased by about 38.5% in urban areas and 254.9% in rural areas over the whole study period. In addition, the age-standardized mortality rate of females with diabetes was higher than that of males, but this pattern began to change in urban areas in 2012. Finally, the age-standardized mortality rates in the elderly population in China are higher with a faster growth rate, especially in rural areas.

Conclusion: The mortality rate of diabetes is on the rise in China. The rapid growth of the mortality rate of diabetes in rural areas leads to the reduction of the urban-rural gap. Male mortality rates in urban areas have surpassed those of women. At the same time, the mortality rate of diabetes showed obvious elder-group orientation. As China's population ages, the burden of death and disability caused by diabetes and its complications will continue to increase. These results indicate that diabetes has become a significant public health problem in China. Such an effect increases the demand for strategies aimed at the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus. In addition to the prevention and intervention of diabetes in high-risk groups, it is also necessary to establish diabetes screening networks to identify patients with mild symptoms. Early detection and timely intervention can effectively reduce the incidence and mortality of diabetes.

Keywords: annual percentage change; diabetes mellitus; joinpoint regression analysis; mortality; trends.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trend of crude mortality rates of diabetes in China 1987–2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trend of age-standardized mortality rates of diabetes in China 1987–2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average change in age-standardized mortality rate of DM per year. Years 1987 to 2019. Error bars as 95% CIs. DM, diabetes mellitus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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