Journal of Clinical Pediatrics ›› 2026, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 546-555.doi: 10.12372/jcp.2026.25e1478

• Original Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Burden of urinary system diseases in children and adolescents in China, 1990-2023

GU Xinjia1, ZHENG Zhihui1, MEI Lingli1, ZHENG Jinxin2,3, LIU Taixiang1, ZHU Jihua1()   

  1. 1 Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Children and Adolescents' Health and Diseases, Hangzhou 310052, Zhejiang, China
    2 School of Global Health, Chinese Centre for Tropical Diseases Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
    3 One Health Centre, Shanghai Jiao Tong University-The University of Edinburgh, Shanghai 200240, China
  • Received:2025-11-24 Revised:2026-01-22 Accepted:2026-04-21 Published:2026-06-15 Online:2026-06-04
  • Contact: ZHU Jihua E-mail:jihuazhu@zju.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective To assess the disease burden and long-term trends of six major urinary system diseases among children and adolescents under 20 years in China from 1990 to 2023, and to quantify the driving effects of demographic and epidemiological factors. Methods Data on the number of incident cases, incidence rates, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and DALY rates for the Chinese population under 20 years old from 1990 to 2023 were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2023. Descriptive statistics and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) derived from Joinpoint regression models were employed to analyze temporal trends. A demographic decomposition method was applied to quantify the contributions of changes in age structure, population size, and age-specific rates to the changes in DALYs. Results From 1990 to 2023, the overall incidence rate of urinary system diseases in China's population under 20 years declined from 384.70 to 285.38 per 100,000, and the overall DALY rate decreased from 160.82 to 39.81 per 100,000. Significant shifts were observed in the disease spectrum. Urinary tract infections and interstitial nephritis remained the most common conditions (accounting for 68.70% of incidence in 2023), whereas chronic kidney disease (48.61%) and kidney cancer (26.03%) constituted the primary sources of DALY burden. The distribution of diseases exhibited distinct age and sex patterns. Decomposition analysis indicated that for all diseases except congenital genitourinary anomalies, the reduction in DALYs was predominantly attributable to improvements in epidemiological factors, with contribution rates ranging from 58.10% to 83.94%. Conclusions The burden of urinary system diseases among children and adolescents in China decreased markedly between 1990 and 2023, largely driven by public health initiatives and advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Future prevention and control strategies should prioritize the evolving disease spectrum and implement precise interventions targeting key populations, such as adolescent females, adolescent males, and infants.

Key words: urinary system diseases, disease burden, temporal trend, decomposition analysis, children and adolescents

CLC Number: 

  • R72