Objectives: To estimate the unintentional poisoning burden and risk factors in China from 1990 to 2015.
Methods: We extracted data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 to compare mortality, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost, years lived with a disability, and risk factors of unintentional poisoning in China. We determined the median of the percent change and 95% uncertainty interval for the period between 1990 and 2015.
Results: The age-standardized unintentional poisoning death rate decreased by 61.8% from 1990 (4.1 per 100 000) to 2015 (1.6 per 100 000). The age-standardized prevalence decreased from 1990 (87.9 per 100 000) to 2010 (39.0 per 100 000), but rebounded in 2015 (42.6 per 100 000). All risk factors combined accounted for 14.9% of unintentional poisoning DALYs in 2015. The leading risk factors for unintentional poisoning DALYs were alcohol and drug use and occupational risks.
Conclusions: China has made substantial progress in reducing the mortality attributable to unintentional poisoning, but the prevalence and absolute number of patients has been increasing again since 2010. The growing contribution from alcohol and drug use requires increased attention.