Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Hospital Emergency Room Visits for Respiratory Disease in Urban Areas in Beijing, China, in 2013

Abstract

BackgroundHeavy fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution occurs frequently in China. However, epidemiological research on the association between short-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution and respiratory disease morbidity is still limited. This study aimed to explore the association between PM2.5 pollution and hospital emergency room visits (ERV) for total and cause-specific respiratory diseases in urban areas in Beijing.MethodsDaily counts of respiratory ERV from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2013, were obtained from ten general hospitals located in urban areas in Beijing. Concurrently, data on PM2.5 were collected from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, including 17 ambient air quality monitoring stations. A generalized-additive model was used to explore the respiratory effects of PM2.5, after controlling for confounding variables. Subgroup analyses were also conducted by age and gender.ResultsA total of 92,464 respiratory emergency visits were recorded during the study period. The mean daily PM2.5 concentration was 102.1±73.6 μg/m3. Every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration at lag0 was associated with an increase in ERV, as follows: 0.23% for total respiratory disease (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11%-0.34%), 0.19% for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) (95%CI: 0.04%-0.35%), 0.34% for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) (95%CI: 0.14%-0.53%) and 1.46% for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) (95%CI: 0.13%-2.79%). The strongest association was identified between AECOPD and PM2.5 concentration at lag0-3 (3.15%, 95%CI: 1.39%-4.91%). The estimated effects were robust after adjusting for SO2, O3, CO and NO2. Females and people 60 years of age and older demonstrated a higher risk of respiratory disease after PM2.5 exposure.ConclusionPM2.5 was significantly associated with respiratory ERV, particularly for URTI, LRTI and AECOPD in Beijing. The susceptibility to PM2.5 pollution varied by gender and age.

Short-term effects of ambient fine particulate matter pollution on hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Beijing, China

“…Exploring the potential effect modifiers is helpful to identify potentially susceptible population and to develop a more accurate targeted intervention. We found that the effects of PM 2.5 were significantly greater in the elderly people, which are consistent with previous findings [6,35,38]. These evidences suggested that elderly people, especially those presenting with COPD, should limit outdoor activity or wear a face mask outdoors to reduce personal exposure when PM 2.5 pollution is severe.…”

“…The gender subgroup analysis suggested that females were more susceptible to PM 2.5 exposure among outpatient visits, but not among inpatient visits. The gender-specific acute effects of PM 2.5 exposure on COPD morbidity were inconsistent in prior studies [6,10,35]. In this study, stronger PM 2.5 effects were observed in the warm season.…”

“…A study conducted in two public general hospitals in Jinan city demonstrated that an increase of 10 μg/m 3 in PM 2.5 concentration corresponded to a 1.4% (95% CI: 0.7%-2.1%) and 1.5% (95% CI: 0.4%-2.6%) increase in respiratory emergency department visits for the urban and suburban population, respectively [34]. Another study conducted in ten general hospitals in Beijing found that every 10 μg/m 3 in PM 2.5 concentration was significantly associated with a 1.46% (95% CI: 0.13%-2.79%) increase in the emergency department visits for acute exacerbation of COPD on the same day [35]. A common limitation of these studies was their restriction to one or several hospitals.…”

The Association between Environmental Factors and Scarlet Fever Incidence in Beijing Region: Using GIS and Spatial Regression Models

“…In this regard, due to having high ambient air pollution in the provincial capitals in China, including Beijing city [31,32,62,63], our study first attempted to explore the relationship between scarlet fever incidence and air pollutant factors based on reported cases of scarlet fever. Our study observed that NO 2 (0.35493, p = 0.027) was significantly associated with scarlet fever incidence in the study setting.…”

Air pollution alters Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae biofilms, antibiotic tolerance and colonisation

“…Particulate matter (PM), a major component of air pollution (Kelly and Fussell, 2011;Kelly and Fussell, 2012), has a detrimental impact on both human and environmental health (Janssen et al, 2012;Kelly and Fussell, 2012;Thurston and Lippmann, 2015;Xu et al, 2016). Current WHO guidelines set limits for both the 24-hour and annual mean concentrations of different size fractions of PM.…”