Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Public Library of Science

School

School of Medical Sciences

RAS ID

21450

Funders

National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 81530087 and 81373099)

National Science and Technology Major Project (grant number: 2012ZX10005009-003)

Importation and Development of High-Calibre Talents Project of Beijing Municipal Institutions (grant number: IDHT20130213)

National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 81302516)

MOE (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China) Project of Humanities, Social Sciences (grant number: 7131002)

Comments

Xu, Q., Li, X., Wang, S., Wang, C., Huang, F., Gao, Q., . . . Guo, X. (2016). Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Hospital Emergency Room Visits for Respiratory Disease in Urban Areas in Beijing, China, in 2013. PLoS ONE, 11(4), e0153099.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153099

Abstract

Background

Heavy 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. Methods Daily 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. Results A 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. Conclusion PM2.5 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.

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0153099

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0153099