Hypertension, a major risk factor of many severe chronic diseases and leading cause of global disease burden, is reported to be associated with long-term exposure to PM2.5. China's high PM2.5 pollution level has become a major public health issue. However, existing studies from China have got inconsistent results with very limited investigation into the multi-ethnic peoples. This study adds multi-ethnic evidence from Sichuan Province, southwestern China, and assesses ethnic differences of PM2.5 exposure effect on hypertension. We pooled large cross-sectional data from two surveys conducted in 2013 and 2018 to examine the association of long-term exposure to PM2.5 on prevalence of hypertension in adults aged 30 years old and above. Community-specified annual PM2.5 concentration was estimated using satellite data. Thirty-one thousand four hundred sixty-two participants with average exposure concentration of 32.8 μg/m3 were included. The proportions of the Han, the Tibetan, the Yi, and other ethnic people were 89.2%, 7.3%, 3.2%, and 0.3%, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.04-1.12) for a 10 μg/m3 PM2.5 concentration increment. The adjusted ORs for the Han, the Tibetan, and the Yi were 1.08 (95% CI, 1.04-1.12), 0.03 (95% CI, 0.00-0.27), and 1.75 (95% CI, 1.28-2.38) for a 10 μg/m3 PM2.5 concentration increment, respectively. Stratification analysis found stronger associations in participants with chronic diseases and Yi minority population. The results showed that long-term exposure to PM2.5 may increase the risk of hypertension prevalence in Chinese multi-ethnic adults. The associations were different among ethnicities.
Keywords: Comorbidity; Ethnicity; Fine particulate matter; Hypertension; Long-term exposure.