The effect of consecutive ambient air pollution on the hospital admission from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Chengdu region, China

Environmental pollution in North-Eastern Italy and its influence on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: time series modelling and analysis using visibility graphs

The impact on human health from environmental pollution is receiving increasing attention. In the case of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the relationship is now well documented. However, few studies have been carried out in areas with low population density and low industrial production, such as the province of Belluno (North-Eastern Italy). The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of exposure to certain pollutants on the temporal dynamics of hospital admissions for COPD in the province of Belluno. Daily air pollution concentration, humidity, precipitations, and temperature were collected from the air monitoring stations in Belluno. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMM) and visibility graphs were used to determine the effects of the short-term exposure to environmental agents on hospital admissions associated to COPD. In the case of the city of Belluno, the GAMM showed that hospital admissions were associated with NO₂, PM₁₀, date, and temperature, while for the city of Feltre, GAMM produced no associated variables. Several visibility graph indices (average edge overlap and interlayer mutual information) showed a significant overlap between environmental agents and hospital admission for both cities. Our study has shown that visibility graphs can be useful in establishing associations between environmental agents and COPD hospitalization in sparsely populated areas.

Mortality and morbidity of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with ambient environment in metropolitans in Taiwan

Background

This study investigated risks of mortality from and morbidity (emergency room visits (ERVs) and outpatient visits) of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with extreme temperatures, fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and ozone (O₃) by sex, and age, from 2005 to 2016 in 6 metropolitan cities in Taiwan.

Methods

The distributed lag non-linear model was employed to assess age (0–18, 19–39, 40–64, and 65 years and above), sex-cause-specific deaths, ERVs, and outpatient visits associated with extreme high (99^th percentile) and low (5^th percentile) temperatures and PM_2.5 and O₃ concentrations at 90^th percentile. Random-effects meta-analysis was adopted to investigate cause-specific pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the whole studied areas.

Results

Only the mortality risk of COPD in the elderly men was significantly associated with the extreme low temperatures. Exposure to the 90^th percentile PM_2.5 was associated with outpatient visits for asthma in 0–18 years old boys [RR = 1.15 (95% CI: 1.09–1.22)]. Meanwhile, significant elevation of ERVs of asthma for females aged 40–64 years was associated with exposure to ozone, with the highest RR of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.05–1.39).

Conclusions

This study identified vulnerable subpopulations who were at risk to extreme events associated with ambient environments deserving further evaluation for adaptation.