Is the Breeze Making you Wheeze? Air Quality and Asthma in the US (original) (raw)
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The Air Quality Health Index and Asthma Morbidity: A Population-Based Study
Environmental Health Perspectives, 2013
Background: Exposure to air pollution has been linked to the exacerbation of respiratory diseases. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), developed in Canada, is a new health risk scale for reporting air quality and advising risk reduction actions. oBjective: We used the AQHI to estimate the impact of air quality on asthma morbidity, adjusting for potential confounders. Methods: Daily air pollu tant measures were obtained from 14 regional monitoring stations in Ontario. Daily counts of asthma-attributed hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and outpatient visits were obtained from a provincial registry of 1.5 million patients with asthma. Poisson regression was used to estimate health services rate ratios (RRs) as a measure of association between the AQHI or individual pollu tants and health services use. We adjusted for age, sex, season, year, and region of residence. results: The AQHI values were significantly associated with increased use of asthma health services on the same day and on the 2 following days, depending on the specific outcome assessed. A 1-unit increase in the AQHI was associated with a 5.6% increase in asthma outpatient visits (RR = 1.056; 95% CI: 1.053, 1.058) and a 2.1% increase in the rate of hospitalization (RR = 1.021; 95% CI: 1.014, 1.028) on the same day and with a 1.3% increase in the rate of ED visits (RR = 1.013; 95% CI: 1.010, 1.017) after a 2-day lag. conclusions: The AQHI values were significantly associated with the use of asthma-related health services. Timely AQHI health risk advisories with integrated risk reduction messages may reduce morbidity associated with air pollution in patients with asthma.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2016
Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. However, its specific effects on asthma prevalence in different age groups, genders and races are not well understood. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the association between selected air pollutants and asthma prevalence in different population groups during 2010 in the eastern part of Texas, USA.The pollutants considered were particulate matter (PM2.5 with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) and surface ozone. The population groups were categorized based on age, gender, and race. County-wise asthma hospital discharge data for different age, gender, and racial groups were obtained from Texas Asthma Control Program, Office of Surveillance, Evaluation and Research, Texas Department of State Health Services. The annual means of the air pollutants were obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)’s air quality system data mart prog...
Air pollution, weather, and associated risk factors related to asthma prevalence and attack rate
Environmental Research, 2007
Asthma is an important public health challenge. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship of air pollution and weather to adolescent asthma prevalence and attack rate. A 6-month mass screening asthma study was conducted from October 1995 to March 1996 in Taiwan. The study population included junior high school students from throughout the country (1,139,452 students). Eighty-nine percent of students completed questionnaires (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood-ISAAC and New England Core Questionnaires) and passed a logical screening error program. Lung function data was collected to assist in the diagnosis of asthma status. From the students screened during this mass survey, a stratified random sample of 64,660 students was analyzed for asthma prevalence and attack rate. Using a regression model to compare the USEPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards 2000 (NAAQS, 2000) to asthma prevalence, this investigation found that the standards may not provide enough protection for adolescents after controlling for age, rhinitis, eczema, urban birth location, parental education level, exercise, cigarette smoking, environmental tobacco smoking, alcohol beverage consumption and weather factors. The general estimating equations (GEE) model, a repeated measurement regression model, was used to examine the relationship between the monthly asthma attack rate among asthma patients and air pollution (nitrogen oxides; nitrogen dioxide; nitric oxide; Ozone; PM 10 ) while controlling for household smoking. The GEE model demonstrated that air pollution is related to asthma attack rate. Air pollution factors also interacted with weather parameters when related to asthma attack rate. r
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 )) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , and SO 2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 4846 However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM 2.5 and SO 2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Asthma affects millions of people globally and is especially concerning in populations living with poor air quality. This study examines the association of ambient outdoor air pollutants on asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits in children and adults throughout the Pittsburgh region. A time-stratified case-crossover design is used to analyze the lagged effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and gaseous pollutants, e.g., ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) on asthma-related ED visits (n = 6682). Single-, double-, and multi-pollutant models are adjusted for temperature and analyzed using conditional logistic regression. In children, all models show an association between O3 and increased ED visits at lag day 1 (OR: 1.12, 95% CI, 1.03–1.22, p < 0.05) for the double-pollutant model (OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20, p < 0.01). In adults, the single-pollutant model shows associations between CO and increased ED visits at lag d...
Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma Outcomes
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by variable airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and airway inflammation. Evidence suggests that air pollution has a negative impact on asthma outcomes in both adult and pediatric populations. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on the effect of various outdoor and indoor pollutants on asthma outcomes, their burden on its management, as well as to highlight the measures that could result in improved asthma outcomes. Traffic-related air pollution, nitrogen dioxide and second-hand smoking (SHS) exposures represent significant risk factors for asthma development in children. Nevertheless, a causal relation between air pollution and development of adult asthma is not clearly established. Exposure to outdoor pollutants can induce asthma symptoms, exacerbations and decreases in lung function. Active tobacco smoking is associated with poorer asthma control, while exposure to SHS increases the risk...
Environmental Pollution, 2017
The effects of fine particles (PM 2.5) on asthma have been widely confirmed by epidemiological research studies. However, a limited number of studies have investigated the relationship between exposure to different PM 2.5 components and asthma. We characterized the PM 2.5 components in a suburban site of central Taiwan and conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study to elaborate the effects of daily concentration of each PM 2.5 component on asthma outpatient visits. We retrieved asthma outpatient claims for individuals less than 20 years old with a residential address in the Shalu district, Taiwan, from the National Health Insurance Research Database during 2000e2010. Multiple linear regression models were used to back extrapolate the historic concentration of individual components of PM 2.5 from 2000 through to 2010, including black carbon (BC) and eight ions, namely, sulfate, nitrate (NO 3 À), ammonium, chloride, potassium (K þ), magnesium, calcium, sodium. The odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of individual PM 2.5 components on asthma was estimated by conditional logistic regression. A total of 887 asthma outpatient visits with individuals who have an average age of 7.96±3.88 years were selected. After adjusting for confounders, we found an interquartile range (IQR) increase in BC level, an IQR increase in NO 3 À level, and an IQR increase in K þ level that were all associated with the increased risk of asthma outpatient visits from the current day (OR ¼ 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05e1.34; OR ¼ 1.11, 95% CI: 1.01 e1.21; and OR ¼ 1.16, 95% CI: 1.04e1.30, respectively). The effects of these components on asthma were stronger in the cold season than in the warm season. However, we did not find any lagging effects. The results suggest that exposure to NO 3 À , BC, and K þ derived from industry-related combustion or motor vehicles emission sources may increase the risk of asthma outpatient visits, particularly during the cold season.
Although it is known that air pollution may lead to increased asthma prevalence, no clear scientific evidence of direct association between air pollution and asthma rate has been reported. In the present study, a Geographical Information System (GIS) approach was developed to determine the association between asthma hospital discharge rate (ADR) and seasonal exposure to specific ambient air pollutants in eastern Texas, USA, during the period 2009 to 2011. Quarterly asthma data were obtained from Texas State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance of Texas State, USA. Quarterly mean concentrations of fine particular matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were determined from the corresponding measured daily data collected by various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties in the study area. Using Pearson correlation analysis, quarterly average of air pollutant concentrations was compared to quarterly Asthma discharge rate (ADR). The results revealed that the association between quarterly exposure of air pollution and ADR was not statistically significant in the study area. During the study period, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of ozone and NO2 with the quarterly ADR. However, in most of the cases a positive correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of PM2.5 and the quarterly ADR, indicating a probable association between ambient air pollution exposure and asthma prevalence.
Industrial Emissions and Asthma Prevalence
European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 2020
The pathogenesis of asthma is multifactorial and not completely understood; however, it is considered a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the airways and has a clinical development of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough. The prevalence of asthma has increased drastically during the past few decades. Urban air pollution from industrial emissions has been implicated as one of the major factors responsible for this increase. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impact of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2) on the overall prevalence of asthma for adults and children. The statistical analysis was conducted using SAS statistical software to determine multiple comparison tests for asthma prevalence among years, ages, ethnicities, and gender, and emissions of SO2, NOx, and CO2 among regions and years. Moreover, SAS was utilized to estimate fully parametric regression models for emission density on total asthma prevalence, child asthma, and adult asthma. In our investigation of asthma prevalence, blacks, females, and children were found to have the highest incidence of asthma. Industrial emissions of SO2, NOx, and CO2 were analyzed, and CO2 had the largest emissions, followed by SO2, and lastly NOx. NOx had the highest correlation with asthma prevalence in child and adult asthma; however, when the influence of SO2, NOx, and CO2 on the overall asthma rate was investigated, CO2 showed the highest correlation. Furthermore, children exposed to SO2, NOx, and CO2 were found to have an increased risk of asthma when compared to adults. This adds to evidence that outdoor air pollution is associated with asthma and that more needs to be done to decrease industrial air pollution.
Association of Changes in Air Quality With Incident Asthma in Children in California, 1993-2014
JAMA, 2019
IMPORTANCE Exposure to air pollutants is a well-established cause of asthma exacerbation in children; whether air pollutants play a role in the development of childhood asthma, however, remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE To examine whether decreasing regional air pollutants were associated with reduced incidence of childhood asthma. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A multilevel longitudinal cohort drawn from 3 waves of the Southern California Children's Health Study over a period of air pollution decline. Each cohort was followed up from 4th to 12th grade (