INTRODUCTION

Young-onset stroke represents a growing public health crisis globally along with rapid lifestyle changes. This study investigated the mortality and disability burden of young-onset stroke attributable to modifiable lifestyle factors in China compared with global trends, aiming to identify critical intervention targets.

METHODS

Utilizing Global Burden of Disease 1990-2021 data, we analyzed age-stratified mortality and disability-adjusted life years for four lifestyle risk factors (tobacco, high alcohol use, dietary risk, and low physical activity). Temporal trends were assessed through joinpoint regression and age-period-cohort modeling, with population-attributable fractions compared between Chinese and global populations over three decades.

RESULTS

China demonstrated persistently greater burdens from tobacco and high alcohol use than global averages did, particularly among males, where alcohol-attributable disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) increased 21% faster than mortality rates did. Gender disparities were prominent, with male population attributable fractions (PAFs) for alcohol exceeding female levels by 9.3-fold. Paradoxically, Chinese females presented rising low physical activity-related DALYs despite declining mortality. Midlife adults (aged ≥40 years) showed accelerated risk accumulation, whereas dietary risk reductions in China outpaced global declines by 2.4-fold. Age effects for all risks were weaker than global estimates, although period and cohort patterns aligned closely.

CONCLUSIONS

The diverging trajectories of mortality and disability burdens underscore China's dual challenge: curbing substance-related mortality in young males while containing midlife disability escalation. Culturally tailored strategies addressing gender-specific risk profiles and alcohol-DALY decoupling are urgently needed. These findings provide pivotal evidence for global stroke prevention in transitioning societies.