The morbidity rate of chronic disease among Chinese rural residents: results from Liuyang cohort.
OBJECTIVE
To study the health status and explore the putative risk factors of chronic diseases among a Chinese rural population.


METHODS
Face-to-face interviews were carried out to collect the information of social characteristics, health status and related risk factors of 11,909 families comprised of 49,383 subjects in the rural area of Liuyang, Hunan province during 2007. Chronic disease was diagnosed according to the diagnosis certification from the town clinic or superior level hospital.


RESULTS
The morbidity rate of chronic disease among Liuyang rural residents in 2007 was 19.22%. The prevalence of the top 10 chronic disorders was as follows: hypertension: 3.65%; urolithiasis: 1.03%; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 0.92%; ischemic heart disease: 0.92%; chronic gastritis: 0.91%; cerebrovascular disease: 0.71%; lumbar disk disease: 0.61%; chronic viral hepatitis: 0.55%; gallstones: 0.54%, and diabetes: 0.54%. Age, gender, educational level, occupation, marital status, type of housing, source of drinking water, smoking, underweight and overweight were factors associated with chronic disease. We also noticed that 14.2% of the residents were underweight and 29.7% are still using unsafe sources of drinking water.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of chronic disease in Liuyang area was severe both in communicable and noncommunicable chronic disease. Unhealthy lifestyles such as tobacco usage and overweight partially contributed to the high prevalence of chronic disease.
School of Biological Science and Technology Central South University, Changsha, PR China.
Xin
X
Huang
Mengshi
M
Chen
Hongzhuan
H
Tan
Shuiyuan
S
Xiao
Jing
J
Deng
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009790:Occupations; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology; D014881:Water Supply; D055815:Young Adult