In:
Frontiers in Public Health, Frontiers Media SA, Vol. 9 ( 2021-12-17)
Abstract:
Background: Previous studies suggested that exposure to air pollution could increase risk of asthma attacks in children. The aim of this study is to investigate the short-term effects of exposure to ambient air pollution on asthma hospital admissions in children in Beijing, a city with serious air pollution and high-quality medical care at the same time. Methods: We collected hospital admission data of asthma patients aged ≤ 18 years old from 56 hospitals from 2013 to 2016 in Beijing, China. Time-stratified case-crossover design and conditional Poisson regression were applied to explore the association between risk of asthma admission in children and the daily concentration of six air pollutants [particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), particulate matter ≤ 10 μm (PM 10 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O 3 )], adjusting for meteorological factors and other pollutants. Additionally, stratified analyses were performed by age, gender, and season. Results: In the single-pollutant models, higher levels of PM 2.5 , SO 2 , and NO 2 were significantly associated with increased risk of hospital admission for asthma in children. The strongest effect was observed in NO 2 at lag06 ( RR = 1.25, 95%CI: 1.06-1.48), followed by SO 2 at lag05 ( RR = 1.17, 95%CI: 1.05–1.31). The robustness of effects of SO 2 and NO 2 were shown in two-pollutant models. Stratified analyses further indicated that pre-school children (aged ≤ 6 years) were more susceptible to SO 2 . The effects of SO 2 were stronger in the cold season, while the effects of NO 2 were stronger in the warm season. No significant sex-specific differences were observed. Conclusions: These results suggested that high levels of air pollution had an adverse effect on childhood asthma, even in a region with high-quality healthcare. Therefore, it will be significant to decrease hospital admissions for asthma in children by controlling air pollution emission and avoiding exposure to air pollution.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2296-2565
DOI:
10.3389/fpubh.2021.798746
DOI:
10.3389/fpubh.2021.798746.s001
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
Frontiers Media SA
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2711781-9
