Air pollution and asthma among children in Seoul, Korea.
BACKGROUND
As information about the health risks associated with air pollution has become available, attention has focused increasingly on susceptible persons such as children and persons with preexisting respiratory diseases, such as asthma.


METHODS
We investigated the association between outdoor air pollution and asthma attacks among children under 15 years of age in Seoul, Korea. We estimated the relative risks of hospitalization associated with an interquartile range (IQR) increase in pollutant concentrations and used time series analysis of the counts by means of the generalized additive Poisson model.


RESULTS
The estimated relative risk of hospitalization for asthma was 1.07 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04-1.11) for particulate matters less than or equal to 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (IQR = 40.4 microg/m3); 1.11 (95% CI = 1.06-1.17) for sulfur dioxide (IQR = 4.4 ppb); 1.15 (95% CI = 1.10-1.20) for nitrogen dioxide (IQR = 14.6 ppb); 1.12 (95% CI = 1.07-1.16) for ozone (IQR = 21.7 ppb); and 1.16 (95% CI = 1.10-1.22) for carbon monoxide (IQR = 1.0 ppm).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings support the hypothesis that air pollution at levels below the current standards of Korea is harmful to sensitive subjects such as asthmatic children.
Lee
Jong-Tae
JT
Institute of Environmental and Industrial Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-Dong, Sungdong-Gu, Seoul, Korea 133-791. JLEE@HANYANG.AC.KR
Kim
Ho
H
Song
Hoyin
H
Hong
Yun-Chul
YC
Cho
Yong-Sung
YS
Shin
Suk-Youn
SY
Hyun
Youn-Joo
YJ
Kim
Yoon-Shin
YS
D000293:Adolescent; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons