Professor Dong Keon Yeom’s Team at Kyung Hee University Analyzes Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Asia

Findings from Long-Term Study Covering 34 Countries

A research team led by Professor Dong Keon Yeom of the College of Medicine at Kyung Hee University has published the results of an analysis on changes in the disease burden of chronic respiratory diseases in 34 Asian countries from 1990 to 2023.

View of Kyung Hee University. Kyung Hee University

The study found that, over the past 30 years, the overall disease burden across Asia has generally decreased, but clear disparities remain by region, sex, and socioeconomic level.

The findings were published in the January issue of the leading medical journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (IF: 32.8).

The research team conducted a long-term analysis of changes in the prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of major chronic respiratory diseases in 34 Asian countries from 1990 to 2023, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, interstitial lung disease, and pneumoconiosis.

They comprehensively identified disparities in disease burden and major risk factors by classifying data according to country, region, sex, and sociodemographic level.

According to the team’s analysis, age-standardized prevalence and DALY rates generally decreased across Asia as a whole.

However, patterns of change differed markedly by disease and by country. As of 2023, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was highest in South Asia, while the prevalence of asthma was relatively high in the high-income Asia-Pacific region and in Southeast Asia.

In the case of asthma, regional differences in DALY rates were pronounced, and these patterns differed from the distribution of prevalence.

The team also confirmed a tendency for the disease burden to be lower where the sociodemographic index was higher.

This suggests that the true burden of chronic respiratory diseases is determined not only by the simple number of patients, but also to a great extent by socioeconomic conditions and access to healthcare.

In particular, in South Asia, indoor air pollution caused by the use of solid fuels still functioned as a major risk factor.

Despite being a risk factor that is largely preventable, improvement has been slow due to structural environmental problems.

The findings underscored the urgent need for environment-focused policy interventions, such as expanding access to clean energy, improving housing conditions, and strengthening ventilation.

Professor Dong Keon Yeom of the College of Medicine at Kyung Hee University said, “In addition to tailored policies that take into account country-specific circumstances and differences in disease burden, what matters most is systematic management of modifiable risk factors such as smoking, outdoor air pollution, and indoor air pollution.”

More than 390 researchers worldwide took part in this study, including Professor Yeom’s team (researchers Hye Soo Cho, Taehyun Kim, Jaeyu Park, and Jiyeon Oh, and Professor Jaeil Shin of Yonsei University), as well as researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the Gates Foundation, Harvard Medical School, and other institutions.