TUESDAY, Jan. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- From 1990 to 2019, the global burden of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) increased, with a higher incidence seen among men and older adults and in high social-demographic index (SDI) regions, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in BioMedical Engineering OnLine.

Yiyi Yao, from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues examined the disease burden of CLL at global, regional, and national levels from 1990 to 2019 based on data from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019. The age, gender, and regional structure of the CLL burden population was depicted, and the impact of social development on the disease burden of CLL was described.

The researchers observed a dramatic increase in the global burden of CLL, from 40,537 cases in 1990 to 103,467 in 2019; the age-standardized incidence rates increased from 0.76 to 1.34/100,000 persons, respectively. Incidence was higher in men than in women and in older adults (aged older than 70 years) than in those aged 15 to 49 and 50 to 69 years. Global burden tended to be higher in countries and territories with high SDI compared with low-SDI regions. In terms of risk factors, the major contributors for CLL-related mortality and disability-adjusted life years were high body mass index and smoking.

"Based on the evaluation of the increasing CLL global burden trends and the highly heterogeneous distribution pattern, policymakers could assess the effectiveness of previous prevention strategies and rationally adjust the follow-up health policies to alleviate the growing burden," the authors write.

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