CARDIOLOGY / CLINICAL RESEARCH
Evolving global patterns of congenital heart anomalies from 1990 to 2021
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1
Department of Child Healthcare, Wenzhou People’s Hospital, Zhejiang Province, China
2
Department of Gastroenterology, Pingyang Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang Province, China
3
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wenzhou Yebo Proctology Hospital, Zhejiang Province, China
4
Children’s Heart Center, Institute of Cardiovascular Development and Translational Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang Province, China
5
Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Pediatric Disease, Zhejiang Province, China
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2025-02-26
Final revision date: 2025-05-02
Acceptance date: 2025-05-18
Online publication date: 2025-06-23
Corresponding author
Yu Zhang
Department of
Child Healthcare
Wenzhou People’s Hospital
Zhejiang Province
325000, China
Feng Chen
Department of
Child Healthcare
Wenzhou People’s Hospital
Zhejiang Province
325000, China
Arch Med Sci 2025;21(4):1201-1212
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Congenital heart anomalies (CHAs) remain a significant global health issue for children, evidenced by persistent disparities in healthcare access across different socio-demographic index (SDI) regions and genders, despite slight decreases in prevalence.
Material and methods:
This cross-sectional study used the Global Burden of Disease 2021 dataset to analyze CHAs in children aged 0–14 from 204 countries. Data analysis was performed using R software, incorporating global mapping, Joinpoint regression, and estimation of annual percent changes and rates, stratified by age, sex, and SDI.
Results:
A total of 218,909,652 children, including 113,892,505 (52.03%) males and 105,017,147 (47.97%) females, were included in the analysis. From 1990 to 2021, the global prevalence of CHAs in children decreased by 4.294% (95% uncertainty interval [UI], –5.696–2.695%). Over three decades, CHA-associated deaths decreased from 497,979 (95% UI: 282,166–642,052) to 222,415 (95% UI: 181,359–275,182). The global mortality rate decreased from 28.633 (95% UI: 16.224–36.918) to 11.055 (95% UI: 9.014–13.678) per 100,000 population, while the prevalence rate changed from 377.257 cases per 100,000 in 1990 to 361.060 cases per 100,000 in 2021. Among the five SDI regions, the low SDI region had the highest CHA-associated mortality rate in 2021.
Conclusions:
The study highlights the persistent global challenge of CHAs, particularly in low-SDI regions. It underscores the need for targeted public health interventions to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes globally.
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