Bronchitis-like symptoms and proximity air pollution in French elderly

Abstract

Our assessment of exposure to proximity air pollution has shown an increased prevalence of bronchitis-like symptoms in elderly living in areas polluted by SO2 and PM(10).

Indoor air quality, ventilation and respiratory health in elderly residents living in nursing homes in Europe

“…However, our findings are compatible with a previous study conducted in elderly, which found a significant relationship between exposure to outdoor PM10 and bronchitis-like symptoms despite low concentrations [6]. In that study, as in this study, cardiac problems also related to breathlessness and dyspnoea had been taken into account.…”

“…Participants underwent a medical visit and replied to a standardised questionnaire on sociodemographic factors, and health and potential risk factors, derived from those used in the European Commission-funded Indicators for Monitoring COPD and Asthma in the EU study, including the European Community Respiratory Health Survey questions for respiratory health and related risk factors [22], and the French Three-City study [6,23] study. Respiratory diseases assessed during the study included lifetime asthma ("has your doctor or other healthcare provider ever told you that you had asthma?…”

“…Various studies have demonstrated a relationship between outdoor air pollution and respiratory morbidity [6,7] and mortality [8,9] in this age group at the general population level after stratification for age. A recent systematic review on adverse respiratory effects of outdoor air pollution in the elderly indicated that exposure to outdoor air pollution in the elderly leads to increased hospital admissions for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and higher COPD mortality than in the rest of the population.…”

Cross-sectional associations between air pollution and chronic bronchitis: an ESCAPE meta-analysis across five cohorts

“…Previous epidemiological studies examining associations between objectively measured air pollution and chronic bronchitis symptoms in adults10–27 are difficult to compare. For example, some studies have used surrogate measures for air pollution (eg, distance from the main road,13 20 21 27 traffic intensity17), others used air pollution data from local monitoring networks10–13 16 22 23 25 26 or model-derived exposures estimated at home address 15 17 19 24. Some13 15 17 but not all14 18 19 23 studies reported increased risks in the general population, whereas studies in specific populations reported associations only in never-smokers10–12 16 26 or females 20 21 25…”

Bronchitis and Environment

“…In this study they found a 10% and a 23% increase in usual cough for a 10 μg/m 3 increment in PM 10 and a 1 μg/m 3 increment in SO 2 respectively, and a 23% increase in usual phlegm for a 1 μg/m 3 increase in SO 2.. A more pronounced effect of SO 2 and PM10 was observed in women on cough and phlegm. (Bentayeb et al, 2010). Especially exhaust fumes by vehicles are being held responsible of ambient air pollution more than industrialization, and warming up (Bates, 1995;Ana et al, 2000, ISDE, 2003.…”