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New research · Ophthalmology
Frontiers in public health · 2d
StudyFrontiers in public health · 2026

Global, regional, and national cataract burden attributable to household air pollution and smoking (1990-2021) and projection to 2050.

Qunwu Tan, Xin Gong
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OphthalmologyStudy

Cataract disability burden from household air pollution is projected to fall sharply by 2050.

Global, regional, and national cataract burden attributable to household air pollution and smoking (1990-2021) and projection to 2050.

Qunwu Tan, Xin Gong
Frontiers in public health · 2026
Background

Household air pollution (household air pollution) and smoking, as key environmental risk factors, substantially drive the growing global cataract burden and pose serious public health threats, especially in low- and middle-income regions.

Purpose

This study aimed to identify the trends, spatiotemporal patterns, and key influencing factors of cataract burden attributable to household air pollution and smoking during 1990-2021, and further project its future trends until 2050.

Methods

Based on Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 data, we computed years lived with disability (years lived with disability) and age-standardized years lived with disability rates (age-standardized YLD rates) by age, gender and the Socio-demographic Index (Socio-demographic Index).

-50.77%
Results
-50.77%
eye pressure damage from indoor cooking smoke will drop nearly in half
More results

Globally, there were 1,956,323.97 (95% UI: 612,092.84-4,033,705.23) and 225,174.47 (95% UI: 160,701.43-315,104.99) years lived with disability due to cataract attributable to household air pollution and smoking in 2021, respectively, both more than in 1990.

More results

Moreover, the age-standardized YLD rates of cataract attributable to household air pollution and smoking were 22.84 (95% UI: 7.15-47.05) and 2.60 (95% UI: 1.85-3.63) per 100,000 population in 2021, respectively.

“
Conclusion

Despite the observed decline in cataract burden attributable to household air pollution and smoking from 1990 to 2021, disparities among different sociodemographic regions and sexes were remarkable, and the potential future risks underscore the necessity for continued air quality management and tobacco control measures.

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