Association of Air Pollution With Increased Risk of Peritonsillar Abscess Formation

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Several studies reported an association between peritonsillar abscess formation and climate conditions, including seasonal changes; however, the results were inconsistent.OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between meteorological conditions and/or air pollution and peritonsillar abscess formation. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSIn this nested case-control study, 3819 participants with peritonsillar abscesses were matched (1:4) for age, sex, income, region of residence, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia with 15 276 control participants. The Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Sample Cohort (HIRA-NSC) data from 2002 through 2013 were used. EXPOSURES AND MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe meteorological data included the mean daily temperature (°C), highest daily temperature (°C), lowest daily temperature (°C), daily temperature difference (°C), relative humidity (%), spot atmospheric pressure (hPa), sulfur dioxide ([SO 2 ], parts per million [ppm]), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 , ppm), ozone (O 3 , ppm), carbon monoxide (CO, ppm), and particulate matter less than 10 μg (PM 10 , μg/m 3 ) for the previous 14 days, 10 days, 7 days, 5 days, or 3 days before the matched index date. These factors were measured in 94 or 273 locations hourly. The crude and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of meteorological data for peritonsillar abscess formation were analyzed using unconditional logistic regression analysis. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to age and sex. RESULTSThe male to female ratio of study participants was 1.43 (11 260 to 7835). Because the age groups were classified using 5-year intervals, the mean age could not be defined. The mean differences of NO 2 and PM 10 concentrations for the 14 days between peritonsillar abscess group and control group were 1.78 ppb (95% CI, 1.47-2.09) and 1.33 μg/m 3 (95% CI, 0.67-1.99), respectively. The aORs of NO 2 (0.1 ppm) and PM 10 (10 μg/m 3 ) during the 14 days prior to the index date for peritonsillar abscess formation were 12.8 (95% CI, 8.4-19.5) and 1.04 (95% CI, 1.02-1.06), respectively. The other meteorological conditions did not reach statistical significance.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Peritonsillar abscess formation was associated with high concentrations of NO 2 and PM 10 .

Short and long term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of ischemic heart disease

“…All procedures were followed in accordance with the relevant guidelines. The Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort (NHIS-HEALS), meteorological, and air pollution data were used (S1 description) [20][21][22] .…”

“…Participants with ischemic heart disease were selected from 514,866 patients with 497,931,549 medical claim codes (n = 2239) [20][21][22] . Among these participants, individuals were excluded if they were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease before 2004 (n = 80) to track previous exposure to meteorological factors in the last 2 years.…”

“…Among these participants, individuals were excluded if they were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease before 2004 (n = 80) to track previous exposure to meteorological factors in the last 2 years. The control group included those without a history of ischemic heart disease from 2002 through 2013 (n = 512,627) [20][21][22] . The control participants were 1:4 matched for age, sex, income, region of residence, and index date 20 .…”

“…The index date of ischemic heart disease participants was set as the time of diagnosis of ischemic heart disease [20][21][22] . Some ischemic heart disease participants were excluded because there were not enough matched control participants (n = 4).…”

Ambient Temperature Is an Independent Risk Factor for Acute Tonsillitis Incidence

“…There have been many studies on the impact of environmental conditions on PTA, although the results were not consistent. 8 A study enrolling 528 patients with PTA showed that this disease was more likely to occur in warmer months. 9 Nevertheless, some other researchers recognized that PTA patients exhibited an even distribution over the year.…”