Association between concentrations of air pollutants and mean time of hospitalization due to pneumonia in children

Abstract

A time-series ecological study was developed to estimate the role of air pollutants in the mean daily duration of hospitalization for pneumonia in children under one year old and living in São José dos Campos, SP, between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Air pollutants PM 10 , SO 2 and O 3 , and climatic variables were measured by the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb). The duration of each hospitalization was obtained from the Datasus site. The values of air pollutants and climatic variables were analyzed using multiple linear regression in lags of zero to five days; the dependent variable was the mean duration of hospitalization and the independent variables were the pollutants. We obtained R 2 and alpha = 0.05 was the significance level of the model. There were 559 children under one year of age admitted during the study period; the mean hospital stay was 3.81 days (SD = 4.06). The PM 10 was associated with length of stay in concurrent days and lags four and five (P <0.001, R 2 = 0.08); a 15 μg.m-3 increase in concentration of this pollutant implies an increase of approximately one day of mean time of hospitalization for lags of 0, 4 and 5 days. It was therefore possible to identify the role of particulate matter in the duration of pneumonia hospitalizations in children.

Modelos Computacionais Fuzzy Para Avaliar Efeitos Da Poluição Do Ar Em Crianças

“…In the literature, it is possible to find previous studies that approached the effects of air pollution on the hospitalizations caused by respiratory diseases in children 2 , 3 , 7 using Poisson regression methods for temporal series. There are also studies that used the fuzzy approach to estimate the period of hospitalization caused by respiratory diseases 5 and heart conditions 9 , besides risk of neonatal death.…”

“…The association between air pollution and respiratory 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 and cardiovascular diseases 2 , 9 is a subject of study, and the global concern about the quality of air has been increasing. In Brazil, the patterns established by the National Environment Council (CONAMA) are followed, in Resolution n. 03/1990, 10 even if these are above the current patterns adopted in other countries, which updated their legislation.…”

Effects of exposure to fine particulate matter in elderly hospitalizations due to respiratory diseases in the South of the Brazilian Amazon

“…Recent studies have evaluated the adverse effects of air pollutants on the health of the population, including mortality rates, hospital admissions, and emergency room visits in hospitals because of cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases (2 –9). Other studies have shown that high levels of air pollution increase morbidity and mortality rates (10).…”