Acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are associated with high mortality and are of unknown cause. The effect of air pollution on exacerbations of interstitial lung disease is unknown. This study aims to define the association of air pollution exposure with acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and corresponding air pollution data were identified from a longitudinal cohort. Air pollution exposures were assigned to each patient for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide based on geo-coded residential addresses. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association of air pollution exposures and acute exacerbations.
Acute exacerbation was significantly associated with antecedent 6-week increases in mean level, maximum level and number of exceedances above accepted standards of ozone (hazard ratio (HR) 1.57, 95% CI 1.09–2.24; HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.11–1.82; and HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.17–1.94, respectively) and nitrogen dioxide (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04–1.91; HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.01–1.59; and HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.10–1.31, respectively).
Increased ozone and nitrogen dioxide exposure over the preceding 6 weeks was associated with an increased risk of acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting that air pollution may contribute to the development of this clinically meaningful event.
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an emerging threat worldwide. It remains unclear how comorbidities affect the risk of infection and severity of COVID-19. Methods: This is a nationwide retrospective case-control study of 219,961 individuals, aged 18 years or older, whose medical costs for COVID-19 testing were claimed until May 15, 2020. COVID-19 diagnosis and infection severity were identified from reimbursement data using diagnosis codes and on the basis of respiratory support use, respectively. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using multiple logistic regression, after adjusting for age, sex, region, healthcare utilization, and insurance status. Results: The COVID-19 group (7,341 of 219,961) was young and had a high proportion of female. Overall, 13.0% (954 of 7,341) of the cases were severe. The severe COVID-19 group had older patients and a proportion of male ratio than did the non-severe group. Diabetes (odds ratio range [
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