The Effect of Air Pollution and Meteorological Parameters on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at an Istanbul Hospital

Abstract

In this study, the relation between emergency admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at an Istanbul University Hospital between the years 1997 and 2001 and the meteorological and air pollution parameters has been analysed. Admissions were calculated for each month, and the relations between the number of admissions for each month and the corresponding month's meteorological parameters (pressure, temperature, moisture) and the average pollution values (CO, SO2, NO, NO2, PM10) were determined. There were 1586 patients included in this study. COPD admissions had a negative significant correlation with temperature (r =-0.72, p<0.001), a positive significant correlation with pressure (r=0.41, p=0.001) and humidity (r=0.34, p=0.007), and also had a positive significant correlation with SO2 (r=0.64, p<0.001), NO (r=0.40, p=0.002), CO (r=0.57, p<0.001) and PM10 (r=0.27, p=0.03). No significant relationship was found for NO2. When the meteorological and clinical parameters were evaluated, it was found that the only variable related to the COPD admissions was temperature. These results for COPD admissions were found to be considerably higher in seasons other than summer (p <0.001). When summer seasonal values were taken as reference (RR=1), RR=1.24 (95% CI: 1.049–1.475) for autumn, RR=1.86 (95%CI: 1.541–2.115) for spring and RR=2.08 (95% CI: 1.793–2.434) for winter. Air pollution and meteorological parameters should be seen as a widespread public health problem, which can trigger admission and even death due to COPD.

Humidity: A review and primer on atmospheric moisture and human health

“…Higher barometric pressure, more hours of sunshine, and lower humidity in winter were associated with an increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations in Taiwan (Tseng et al, 2013), implying that warm and dry high pressure systems were associated with COPD anomalies. In contrast, Hapçioğlu et al (2006) found no relationship between humidity and COPD exacerbations in Istanbul. A study in Trinidad (Ivey et al, 2013) supported the contention that in warm, wet climates, incidence of asthma increased with higher relative humidity in the wet season (MayDecember).…”

Indoor and Outdoor Particulate Matter Concentrations at Schools in the Athens Area

“…There is increasing concern among the experts in the field over the adverse health effects of air pollution, especially in urban areas where air pollution is usually greatest. Suspended PM in particular has received much interest because of epidemiological and experimental evidence that associate PM concentrations with excesses in daily mortality and morbidity [1][2][3][4].…”

Strategies for reduction of episodic risk of PM10 by controlling industrial and traffic emissions of SO2 and NO2 and meteorological parameters

“…27 Meteorological conditions, however, appear to have the greatest impact on daily variations in ambient air quality. 28–31 Meteorology is a confounding factor, both in epidemiological research of health effects due to exposure to ambient PM 10 and in the evaluation of effects of emission reduction measures on PM 10 concentrations in the atmospheric environment. 32 In order to be able to assess the effects of local and temporarily reduction measures during episodes, such as limitation of traffic, there is a need for information about the contribution of sources and meteorology to the day-to-day variation in concentration.…”