Effects of ambient air pollution on cause-specific hospitalizations in Wuhan during 2017-2019

Jing Wang; Zenghui Huang; Xingyuan Liu; Can Yang; Haomin Yang; Jianpeng Liao; Kuizhuang Jiao; Qihao Chen; Xuxi Ma; Jingling Liao; Lu Ma

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.114686

Effects of ambient air pollution on cause-specific hospitalizations in Wuhan during 2017-2019

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2023 Mar 15:253:114686. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.114686. Epub 2023 Feb 28.

Authors

Jing Wang¹, Zenghui Huang¹, Xingyuan Liu², Can Yang¹, Haomin Yang¹, Jianpeng Liao¹, Kuizhuang Jiao¹, Qihao Chen¹, Xuxi Ma³, Jingling Liao⁴, Lu Ma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, No. 115 Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China.
² Wuhan Information Center of Health and Family Planning, Wuhan 430021, China.
³ Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
⁴ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Medical College, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, No. 2 Huangjiahu West Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430081, China.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, No. 115 Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China. Electronic address: malu@whu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36863162
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.114686

Abstract

Background: Few studies have focused on the associations between air pollutants and multiple organ system diseases in the entire hospitalized population. The present study aims to explore the short-term effects of six routinely monitored air pollutants on the broad causes of hospital admissions and estimate the resulting hospital admission burdens.

Methods: Daily hospital admission records from 2017 to 2019 were obtained from the Wuhan Information center of Health and Family Planning. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were employed to evaluate the effects of air pollutants on the percent increase in the cause-specific daily number of hospital admissions. Increased hospital admission numbers, days, and expenses were also estimated.

Results: A total of 2636,026 hospital admissions were identified. We found that both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ increased the risk of hospital admissions for most disease categories. Short-term exposure to PM_2.5 was positively associated with hospitalizations of several rarely studied disease categories, such as diseases of the eye and adnexa (2.83%, 95%CI: 0.96-4.73%, P < 0.01) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (2.17%, 95% CI: 0.88-3.47%, P < 0.001). NO₂ was observed to have a robust effect on diseases of the respiratory system (1.36%, 95%CI: 0.74-1.98%, P < 0.001). CO was significantly associated with hospital admissions for six disease categories. Furthermore, each 10-μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 was associated with an annual increase of 13,444 hospital admissions (95% CI: 6239-20,649), 124,344 admission days (95% CI: 57,705-190,983), and 166-million-yuan admission expenses (95% CI: 77-255).

Conclusion: Our study suggested that particulate matter (PM) had a short-term effect on hospital admissions of most major disease categories and resulted in a considerable hospital admission burden. In addition, the health effects of NO₂ and CO emissions require more attention in megacities.

Keywords: Carbon monoxide; Daily hospital admissions; Fine particulate matter; Nitrogen dioxide; Time series analysis.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / adverse effects
Air Pollution* / analysis
China / epidemiology
Cities
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Hospitalization
Humans
Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Nitrogen Dioxide
Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter