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Air pollution is associated with primary health care visits for asthma in Sweden : A case-crossover design with a distributed lag non-linear model

Taj, Tahir LU ; Jakobsson, Kristina LU ; Stroh, Emilie LU orcid and Oudin, Anna LU orcid (2016) In Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology 17. p.37-44
Abstract

Background: Air pollution can increase the symptoms of asthma and has an acute effect on the number of emergency room visits and hospital admissions because of asthma, but little is known about the effect of air pollution on the number of primary health care (PHC) visits for asthma. Objective: To investigate the association between air pollution and the number of PHC visits for asthma in Scania, southern Sweden. Methods: Data on daily PHC visits for asthma were obtained from a regional healthcare database in Scania, which covers approximately half a million people. Air pollution data from 2005 to 2010 were obtained from six urban background stations. We used a case-crossover study design and a distributed lag non-linear model in the... (More)

Background: Air pollution can increase the symptoms of asthma and has an acute effect on the number of emergency room visits and hospital admissions because of asthma, but little is known about the effect of air pollution on the number of primary health care (PHC) visits for asthma. Objective: To investigate the association between air pollution and the number of PHC visits for asthma in Scania, southern Sweden. Methods: Data on daily PHC visits for asthma were obtained from a regional healthcare database in Scania, which covers approximately half a million people. Air pollution data from 2005 to 2010 were obtained from six urban background stations. We used a case-crossover study design and a distributed lag non-linear model in the analysis. Results: The air pollution levels were generally within the EU air quality guidelines. The mean number of daily PHC visits for asthma was 34. The number of PHC visits increased by 5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.91-6.25%) with every 10μg m-3 increase in daily mean NO2 lag (0-15), suggesting that daily air pollution levels are associated with PHC visits for asthma. Conclusion: Even though the air quality in Scania between 2005 and 2010 was within EU's guidelines, the number of PHC visits for asthma increased with increasing levels of air pollution. This suggests that as well as increasing hospital and emergency room visits, air pollution increases the burden on PHC due to milder symptoms of asthma.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Air pollution, Asthma, Primary Health Care
in
Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology
volume
17
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:27246271
  • wos:000409343600004
  • scopus:84965158746
ISSN
1877-5845
DOI
10.1016/j.sste.2016.04.010
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
93a7ddd6-5ef9-432b-a47f-a11312e86ded
date added to LUP
2016-06-01 14:25:20
date last changed
2025-01-25 08:35:34
@article{93a7ddd6-5ef9-432b-a47f-a11312e86ded,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Air pollution can increase the symptoms of asthma and has an acute effect on the number of emergency room visits and hospital admissions because of asthma, but little is known about the effect of air pollution on the number of primary health care (PHC) visits for asthma. Objective: To investigate the association between air pollution and the number of PHC visits for asthma in Scania, southern Sweden. Methods: Data on daily PHC visits for asthma were obtained from a regional healthcare database in Scania, which covers approximately half a million people. Air pollution data from 2005 to 2010 were obtained from six urban background stations. We used a case-crossover study design and a distributed lag non-linear model in the analysis. Results: The air pollution levels were generally within the EU air quality guidelines. The mean number of daily PHC visits for asthma was 34. The number of PHC visits increased by 5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.91-6.25%) with every 10μg m<sup>-3</sup> increase in daily mean NO<sub>2</sub> lag (0-15), suggesting that daily air pollution levels are associated with PHC visits for asthma. Conclusion: Even though the air quality in Scania between 2005 and 2010 was within EU's guidelines, the number of PHC visits for asthma increased with increasing levels of air pollution. This suggests that as well as increasing hospital and emergency room visits, air pollution increases the burden on PHC due to milder symptoms of asthma.</p>}},
  author       = {{Taj, Tahir and Jakobsson, Kristina and Stroh, Emilie and Oudin, Anna}},
  issn         = {{1877-5845}},
  keywords     = {{Air pollution; Asthma; Primary Health Care}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{37--44}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology}},
  title        = {{Air pollution is associated with primary health care visits for asthma in Sweden : A case-crossover design with a distributed lag non-linear model}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sste.2016.04.010}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.sste.2016.04.010}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}