Is air quality index associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents? The CASPIAN-III Study

Parinaz Poursafa; Marjan Mansourian; Mohammad-Esmaeil Motlagh; Gelayol Ardalan; Roya Kelishadi

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.07.010

Is air quality index associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents? The CASPIAN-III Study

Environ Res. 2014 Oct:134:105-9. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.07.010. Epub 2014 Aug 13.

Authors

Parinaz Poursafa¹, Marjan Mansourian², Mohammad-Esmaeil Motlagh³, Gelayol Ardalan⁴, Roya Kelishadi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Environment Engineering Department, Environment Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Biostatistics and Epidemiology Department, Faculty of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Pediatrics Department, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Pediatrics Department, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
⁴ Pediatrics Department, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁵ Pediatrics Department, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Electronic address: kelishadi@med.mui.ac.ir.

PMID: 25127520
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.07.010

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the association of air quality index (AQI) with cardiometabolic risk factors in a nationally representative sample of healthy adolescents.

Methods: This nationwide survey was conducted among a stratified multi-stage probability sample of students, aged 10-18 years, from 27 provinces of Iran. Those students with history of any acute or chronic diseases, any medication use, as well as active or passive smoking were not included to the current study. Dietary and physical activity habits were documented by valid questionnaires. Physical examination and blood sampling were conducted under standard protocols. AQI data were obtained from air pollution monitoring sites from the entire country by considering air pollutants concentration, which includes all provincial counties containing different clusters.

Results: The study participants consisted of 1413 students (48.8% boys) with a mean (SD) age of 14.81±2.48 years. The mean AQI level was 285.37±30.11 at national levels. After adjustment for confounding factors including age, sex, and anthropometric measures, as well as for dietary and physical activity habits, multiple linear regressions based on correlation of coefficients of the AQI with cardiometabolic risk factors showed significant positive correlations of AQI with systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, as well as significant negative correlations with HDL-cholesterol. After adjustment for abovementioned confounding factors, binary logistic regressions analyses showed that AQI increased the risk of abnormal levels of some risk factors as elevated levels of systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and triglycerides.

Conclusion: The associations of low air quality with some cardiometabolic factors in the current survey, although not strong, might be considered as an evidence of the adverse cardiometabolic consequences of exposure to air pollutants in the pediatric age group, and predisposing them to earlier development of non-communicable diseases.

Keywords: Adolescents; Air pollutants; Cardiovascular risk factors; Prevention; Public health.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Air Pollutants / toxicity*
Blood Glucose / analysis
Blood Pressure
Cardiovascular Diseases / blood
Cardiovascular Diseases / epidemiology*
Child
Cholesterol / blood
Female
Humans
Iran
Male
Risk Factors
Triglycerides / blood

Substances

Air Pollutants
Blood Glucose
Triglycerides
Cholesterol