ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship between ambient air pollutants and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in relatively low-polluted areas in China.
METHODS
Atmospheric pollutants levels and meteorological data were obtained from January 2016 to December 2020. The medical database including daily hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ICD10: J44) was derived from the First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University. The generalized additive model was used to analyze the percentage change with 95% confidence interval in daily hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with a 10 µg/m3 increase in atmospheric pollutants levels.
RESULTS
In total, occurred 4,980 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions (not including emergency department visits) during 2016–2020. The mean concentrations of daily PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO were 37.5 μg/m3, 60.1 μg/m3, 18.7 μg/m3, 23.5 μg/m3, 70.0 μg/m3, and 1.2 mg/m3 in Ganzhou. Each 10 µg/m3 increment of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3 were significantly associated with 2.8% (95%CI: 1.0–4.7), 1.3% (95%CI: 0.3–2.4), 2.8% (95%CI: 0.4–5.4), and 1.5% (95%CI: 0.2–2.7) elevation in daily chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions. The estimates of delayed effects of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3 were observed at lag6, lag6, lag8, lag1, respectively. The health effects of particulate pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10) may be independent of other pollutants. The adverse effects of air pollutants were more evident in the warm season (May–Oct) than in the cold season (Nov–Apr).
CONCLUSION
Our study demonstrated that elevated concentrations of atmospheric pollutant (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3), especially particulate pollutants, can be associated with increased daily count of hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , which may promote further understanding of the potential hazards of relatively low levels of air pollution on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory disorders.
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, epidemiology; Hospitalization; Air Pollution, adverse effects; Air Quality Standards; Models, Statistical
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95%CI: 95% confidence interval; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PM2.5: particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter; PM10: particulate matter ≤ 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter; SO2: sulfur dioxide; NO2: nitrogen dioxide; O3: ozone; CO: carbon monoxide.Note: the lines in red color mean statistical significance.
95%CI: 95% confidence interval; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PM2.5: particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter; PM10: particulate matter ≤ 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter; SO2: sulfur dioxide; NO2: nitrogen dioxide; O3: ozone; CO, carbon monoxide.Note: November to April is considered the cold season (in blue color) and May to October is considered the warm season (in red color).