Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and severe disease that has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Understanding the epidemiology of ALI is vital for its prevention and treatment. The present study aimed to analyze the epidemiology of ALI by collecting data from patients that were submitted between 2000 and 2008 into the 'No. 1 Military Medical Project' information system. A total of 9,596 ALI patients were analyzed retrospectively, including 7,284 males (75.91%) and 2,312 females (24.09%). The median age of the patients was 44 years (interquartile range, 31-63 years), and there was a significant difference between the median ages of male and female patients (P<0.01). The number of patients with ALI admitted to the hospitals showed an increasing trend over time. However, there was no significant difference in the annual gender distribution (P>0.05). In addition, ALI was more prevalent in May, July, August, October, November and December, as compared with the other months. ALI occurred at any age, although 40-years-old was the peak age. There was a significant difference in the age group distributions of male and female ALI patients (P<0.01). Among the predisposing conditions, pulmonary contusion represented the highest proportion (45.71%), followed by pneumonia or respiratory tract infection (23.68%) and pulmonary malignant tumor (6.30%). Of the 581 (6.05%) mortalities, pneumonia was the most common cause (37.87%), followed by malignancies (16.87%) and pulmonary embolism (11.02%). However, the highest mortality rate was associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (48.28%). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that ALI should be increasingly monitored in the future, and predisposing conditions should be regarded as one of the most important features determining the management of ALI.
Keywords: China; acute lung injury; epidemiology; fatality; mortality; predisposing conditions.