Association of Air Pollution with Hospital Outpatient Visits in Beijing

Abstract

Data collected at a community-based hospital in Beijing, China, were analyzed in an assessment of the association of air pollution with daily outpatient visits. Total suspended particle (TSP) measurements were available for 210 d (mean, 388 micrograms/m3; maximum, 1,255 micrograms/m3), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) measurements were available for 2 d (mean, 119 micrograms/m3; maximum, 478 micrograms/m3). The average number of daily hospital outpatient visits was 1,386; approximately 8.5% of these visits were to the surgery department, 7.9% were to the pediatrics department, and 20.6% were to the internal medicine department. A large increase in nonsurgery outpatient visits was observed in association with increases in both SO2 and TSP in linear regression models, after adjusting for temperature, humidity, season, and day of the week. The estimated effects (in which the most polluted days were compared with the least polluted days) on nonsurgery outpatient visits were increases of 20% (SE = 5%) and 17% (SE = 4%) in association with increases in SO2 and TSP, respectively. In a department-specific analysis, the association was found to be 1.5- to 2.0-fold stronger for pediatrics and internal medicine visits than for other types of visits. The separate associations of SO2 and TSP with internal medicine visits remained statistically significant when both SO2 and TSP were considered simultaneously and when adjustment was made for surgery visits. SO2 and TSP were found to be significant, independent predictors of internal medicine visits in both winter and summer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution

“…Similar findings, reported by Chang et al, 58 showed an increase of ϳ20% in mortality from COPD for an SO 2 increase of 100 g/m 3 and of ϳ3% in respiratory deaths for a TSP increase of 100 g/m 3 . Xu et al 54 collected 1990 data from a communitybased hospital in Beijing to assess the association of air quality with daily nonsurgery outpatient visits, and found significant associations with both SO 2 and TSP levels. Chang et al 59 also found significant associations between air pollutant concentrations and outpatient visits for colds, pneumonia, and bronchitis for children in Beijing from 1998 to 2000.…”

Associations between ambient air pollution and daily emergency department attendances for cardiovascular disease in the elderly (65+ years), Sydney, Australia

“…Fewer studies have investigated associations between ambient air pollutants and emergency department (ED) attendances and the majority of these have reported on the associations between air pollution and ED attendances for asthma (Schwartz et al, 1993;Castellsague et al, 1995;Smith et al, 1996;Stieb et al, 1996;Tenias et al, 1998;Fauroux et al, 2000). Only a very small number of published studies have investigated effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease (CVD) ED attendances (Pantazopoulou et al, 1995;Xu et al, 1995;Stieb et al, 2000;Metzger et al, 2004).…”

Air Pollution and Unscheduled Hospital Outpatient and Emergency Room Visits

“…(15) and reduced pulmonary function (16). Two recent studies conducted in residential areas of Beijing found that increased air pollution levels were associated with daily mortality (4) and hospital outpatient visits (17). These bStandard errors were estimated by robust method.…”